The Brother Chase
by Shadow The Shattered Princsess
Summary: A one-piece AU, in which Luffy encounters Sabo much earlier than in the original timeline. Armed with this new info, Luffy seeks out Ace to tell him of his discovery. Though entering the Moby Dick without permission when you don't want to uncover yourself is easier said than done. And when huge misunderstandings come in to play, things go south awfully quick.!
1. Chapter 1

**Introduction: **_Hey! Welcome to The Brother chase! I've been working on the fanfic for a while and thought it was finally about time to share it with the fanfiction community! I hope you find it to your liking. If the story seems badly written or to shortly-drawn out, then it is because:_

_1\. I am not a native English speaker_

_2\. I have not had time to go through everything and edit it. _

_I hope you will still enjoy this story though, as it does get a little crazy (hopefully not bad?) at times! :D_

OxO

**Disclaimer: **_As one knows, people who write fanfiction are not usually the people who own the material they are writing about, and I, sadly am no exception. One piece is owned by Eiichiro Oda and Toei Animation, not me :(_

OxO

_**Updates: **I don't know how often I'm gonna update. If this catches enough attention, maybe I'll get a schedule? My sis is a big fan of this fanfiction, so if nothing else, I'll keep writing for her sake. _

OxO

**EXPLANATION; READ PLEASE:**

_**I am going to explain the timeline in this story here, so you all know why everything is as it is:**_

**\- Teach/Blackbeard has not yet killed Thatch, even though we're at the point in time where the Straw Hats are headed to Sabaody. Let's just say that he waited longer to strike, or his plan was delayed by something.**

**\- The crew still met Ace in Alabasta, though not because he was hunting down Blackbeard, but because of some other mission. **

**\- Luffy currently has a bounty of 300.000.000, though is not as well known as he is in the original timeline (I need this for certain points in my story.)**

OxO

**Warnings: **OOC!Luffy, (Childish?)!Luffy, AU, Violence, Light swearing (Hence the T rating.)

OxO

**Enjoy!**

* * *

** The brother chase**

* * *

"Guys! Guys, wake up quick!" Sounded a roaring, feminine voice. It was early morning, unusually early.

Usually, the straw hats would get up around 7, but it was only half-past 4 right now. Unusually early for anyone, especially Nami, who was the one who had yelled to be awake.

The sun was barely rising, and everyone aside from the navigator had been fast asleep.

"What is it, Nami-san?" Sounded Sanji's slightly tired voice.

"Gargh, it's too early for this," Usopp said as he yawned.

"Agreed… why did you have to wake us up, Nami-san? The sun isn't even up yet," Brook commented.

Chopper, Zoro and Franky emerged from the boys' quarters not too much later. Robin came from the girls' room a minute after all the boys had arrived.

"Wait a second, where the hell is that shitty captain?" Sanji asked, starting to sound more awake.

"Probably still asleep. You know that Luffy can sleep through anything. I'll go get him," Usopp said.

"No! He won't be there," Nami yelled, which gave the rest of the crew confused looks on their faces.

"'He won't be there?' What do you mean he won't be there, Nami?" Robin asked.

"I was thirsty and went up to get a glass of water, only to arrive in the kitchen and find _THIS!_" She exclaimed, holding up what looked to be a handwritten note. The crew pinched their eyes together to read the text in bad writing. Brook began reading aloud.

"_Sorry, everyone! I'm gonna go somewhere for a while. Don't worry, I'll be back in a couple of days, Shishishi!"_

". . ."

"HUH!?" All of the crew yelled out in unison, making the entire Sunny shake. Everyone was now wide awake.

"Go somewhere!? Where the hell would he suddenly just 'decide to go' without telling _us _anything about it!?" Usopp yelled.

"And look at the note… It's so short. No details about where he's going, no nothing! It's so like him, but he could've at least written _something _to give us a clue!" Nami yelled.

"What do we do!? We have no clue where Luffy is now!" Chopper yelled, freaking out.

"Did anyone see anything yesterday? I know some of you guys stay up till pretty late," Chopper asked.

Sanji lit the first cigarette of the day and answered.

"No, I went to bed at 12 o'clock, just like normal. The shitty captain was still here at that point," he answered.

"I was up building a little late, but not later than 1 AM. Luffy came in and looked at what I was doing, so he was still there at the point I went to sleep," Usopp said, scratching his neck.

"Same goes for me," Franky added.

"Nami and I went to bed at the same time, 11 PM. Obviously, Luffy was still here at that point," Robin said. Nami nodded in the background.

"I went to bed at 12 o'clock as well, Yohohoho," Brook said quieter than usual.

"Well, that just leaves…" Nami said as the entire crew's attention turned to the green-haired swordsman.

"Zoro. You _have _to have seen something! You stay up until 4 AM _and _you spend all your time in the crow's nest, where you have a lookout of the entire Sunny!" Usopp said, hopefully.

"Well… I did see Luffy running around yesterday. Though he does that a lot, not having a fast sleep schedule and all, so I just ignored him…" Zoro said.

"You idiot! You could've seen where he went!" Nami yelled, the rest of the crew strongly agreeing.

"Well, I didn't, and that's all that matters. We don't really have much choice right now. We'll just have to wait for Luffy to return on his own, since we have no clue where he went," Zoro stated.

The rest of the crew sighed.

"For once, I agree, you moss-head," Sanji replied.

"Huh? You wanna start something, you shitty cook!?" Zoro snapped back. The two glared angrily at each other before suddenly being stopped.

Both got a smack planted nice and hard into their thick skulls by none other than the talented and beautiful Nami.

"Guys, it's way too early for this!" She exclaimed, clearly already tired of their rivalry.

"Yes, of course, Nami-san!" Sanji yelled, smoke still rising from his head.

"Well, I don't think any of us are going to get any more sleep tonight, might as well just start the day now," Brook said.

"I'll go make breakfast," Sanji said. The crew nodded and went back and did their usual morning routines.

Breakfast was fairly different without the loud-mouthed, bottomless pit that was their captain. It was quieter, more peaceful.

But in a way… also more empty feeling than usual…

The remaining straw hats could only wonder where in the world their captain could currently be at. And hope, that whatever he was running off to do, would go without him destroying half the Grand Line in the process… leaving Luffy unattended was _not _recommended.

* * *

**Luffy**

* * *

The sun was finally beginning to rise. He had left the Sunny very early this morning, though Zoro had still been awake. He could only hope the swordsman didn't know where he was going.

The tiny fisher boat was wobbly, but in some kind of way, gave him a feeling of deja vu. Being all alone on a fisher boat on his way to adventure… he hadn't felt like this ever since he set out to sea to become a pirate!

He had been selfish and had left his crew behind, he knew that…

But this was something _he _had to do. It didn't involve them, only two other people… one of which, he was on his way to finding.

All of a sudden, his thoughts were interrupted by a large and LOUD growl.

"Hungry…" Luffy said, patting his stomach. He would have to stop by the next island to get some food! And maybe also some info.

After all, finding the _Whitebeard pirates _wasn't gonna be a walk in the park. He giggled. He had to find Ace. He _HAD _to tell him. In-person. _HIM. _

**Flashback: **

The straw hats had docked at an island in order to stretch their legs and gather supplies again. As always, Luffy had been first to run off in order to find somewhere to eat.

As soon as he had found an inn, he had ordered and begun to empty out the entire stock of food. All surrounding people could only stare in awe, but didn't Luffy care. He never had. He was just eating!

Though all of a sudden…

A hooded man was standing next to him. He was ordering a bottle of sake, but something about him just gave Luffy a weird feeling… He couldn't tell if it was a bad feeling, but it made his stomach twist and turn and his heartbeat beat fast like it hadn't done in a while.

The man had remained silent and had done absolutely nothing. Nothing should be making him feel like this… Luffy just kept on stuffing more and more food down his throat, but he hadn't taken his eyes off the man during a single second of the time he was there.

As soon as the owner had gotten the sake bottle the man requested, the hooded guy paid and headed out the door in a hurry again.

Luffy got up as well, something he usually _never _did. The plate before him was only _half_-finished.

He _never _left his plates un-finished, but this weird guy just peeked Luffy's interest too much! He had to find him before he got away.

"Thanks for the food!" Luffy yelled, running out the door. He ignored the angry yells from the inn-owner and searched the crowd for the weird man.

His eyes spotted him just as he was about to run away. Luffy followed. The man was fast. But he could keep up! He wouldn't let the strange guy get away!

All of a sudden, the man took a weird turn into an alley. Luffy didn't question it and just kept following him.

But the alley was narrow and hard to maneuver through, so the man got ahead. Just as Luffy thought he had lost him, he heard a voice.

"Now, we're alone. Why have you been following me?" The voice came from behind him, and the second Luffy realized that he turned around.

"Straw hat Luffy, an infamous pirate with a bounty of 300.000.000 Beli," the man said.

He had taken his hood down. Luffy carefully studied his face.

He was blonde. His hair was a bit on the long side, and he was quite tall. What was most remarkable about his face though, would be the scar going over his left eye. Luffy couldn't help but wonder how he got it.

"Who're you? How do you know who I am? How did you get that scar?" Luffy asked in his usual clueless tone. The man looked surprised at him for a few seconds.

"You know, that's a pretty personal question," he said, his attitude obviously more relaxed.

"Well, it looks cool and I wanna know! So I asked!" Luffy said. The blonde giggled surprised.

"Wow, and here I was worried about nothing. Allow me to introduce myself," he started. Luffy listened.

"I'm the chief of staff in the revolutionary army, second in command. I'm here on a mission. I was about to head back to my Nakama before I realized you were following me, so I wanted to see what you wanted," he replied.

"Well, I had this kind of weird feeling when I saw you, so I wanted to see who you were!" Luffy exclaimed.

The blonde smiled again… why was he letting his guard down so much..? Usually, he would never be this relaxed around anyone he didn't know. This kid was making him feel naturally relaxed for some reason…

"Anyway, you didn't answer! How did you get the scar!?" Luffy asked. The man looked up at him before answering.

"I'll tell you how I got my scar if you tell me how you got yours," he said, referring to the small scar underneath his eyes.

Why was he being so childish around someone who wasn't Koala or Hack!?

"Oh, this? I cut myself with a knife, Shishishishi!" He said as he giggled.

Sabo's eyes widened in shock...This kid, Luffy- was it, didn't seem like the type to do… _that. _Which only left the possibility that...

"You cut yourself? Next to your eye? _Accidentally?_" Sabo asked confused. He hadn't met anyone that stupid in a long time.

"No, silly! On purpose! I wanted to show Shanks that I wasn't afraid of getting hurt so he would let me join his crew!" He said, smiling widely.

"Shanks? As in the _Yonko _Red-hair Shanks? You're a part of Red-hair Shanks' crew?" he asked, amused.

The news in the newspaper were quite different… though of course, you couldn't always trust what was written in there...

"No-no-no-no-no-no. He didn't let me join, so I decided I would make my own crew that was even stronger than his! Anyway, that's the story behind my scar. Now tell me how you got yours!" Luffy yelled, not being able to wait anymore.

He smiled, but the look in his eyes changed. He was no longer on guard, just straight up… _sad… _miserable, even. He brought a hand to the scar and started talking.

"I got this scar when I was 10, ergo 10 years ago. I was apparently on my way somewhere, but I can't remember where. Anyway, next thing I know, I wake up in a bed. I was burned and had been close to drowning. I… can't remember how I got it... But I _know _I definitely didn't have this scar before I woke up," he started.

The look on Luffy's eyes had changed as well, but instead of going from suspicious to sad, it went from careless to suspicious.

Though he didn't say a word…

The blonde continued.

"I had been found and rescued by Dragon-san, the leader of the revolutionary army. I had amnesia, and still can't remember anything from before I woke up. We were sailing right next to an island in the East Blue called Dawn Island, and they offered to take me back to my home…"

"But as soon as they said that, all the instincts in my body began telling me no. It was like, I _knew _I didn't wanna go home, even though I couldn't remember anything else…"

Sabo looked over at Luffy, who had gone from looking slightly suspicious to utterly and completely shocked.

"When the revolutionary army took me under their wing, I already knew how to fight… my body was just used to it. I must've been doing something that required a lot of fighting before I lost my memory, but I can't possibly imagine what a 10-year old could be doing that would be so-"

"What's your weapon?" came a sudden question from Luffy. The blonde stared at him in confusion. Unlike the other times Luffy had asked, he sounded demanding- almost desperate for him to answer. A little hesitant, the man answered.

"...A pipe," he simply said. He expected the small teen to laugh, or if anything, make fun of him. But no, he simply flinched as his expression turned more and more horrified.

"Do… did you wear a stupid top-hat with goggles that you never use- ehm.. used?"

"Wha- STUPID!? My hat is not stupid! And yes, I do indeed, but it is _not _stupid!" He yelled. How had he even know that? He seemed too clueless about him before. How did he not know who he was but that he wore a _top hat _with _goggles_?

This kid made no sense.

"What… what's your name?" He asked. There was a look of utter anticipation and horror on Luffy's face. His voice was even shaking at this point... The man was uncertain if he should answer or not… what in the world was going on with Luffy?

"I…. It's… It's Sabo," he said. And with that, Luffy's eyes immediately widened, and what looking to be _tears _formed in the corner of his eyes. Sabo stared shocked at him. What in the world was going on!?

"It's… It's really you! _SABO!_" Luffy yelled as he jumped at the unsuspecting adult. He had caught him so off guard that he managed to tackle him to the ground.

Sabo had to take a couple of seconds to process what was really happening.. Luffy was _crying… _on top of him...

"Sabo! I thought you died! Me and Ace.. we were all alone! You were alive, I can't believe it! I missed you so much, Sabo!" Luffy said in between sobs and grunts.

Sabo was confused, to say the least. Did they know each other...? No, definitely not. The way they had both reacted before had proven that. Then why… why was Luffy acting so strange all of a sudden?

Luffy just kept on sobbing and sobbing like there was no tomorrow. Usually, he wasn't the type to cry.. not at all. But this… this was too great to be true. Sabo was desperate. He knew it was probably stupid to ask, but he _had _to know.

"I… Do I know you?" He said.

_Of course… as if something this good came without its price. _

And with that, Luffy's eyes officially showcased that his heart had shattered. Crap, now he felt guilty. But why? Why did he feel guilty when he _clearly _didn't know this guy? Or did he? Was what he said really true?

Then it hit him…

Luffy's sobbing had gotten quieter, and he wasn't yelling at him anymore.

"Did… did I know you before I lost my memory?" Sabo asked, finally understanding what was going on. Luffy just silently nodded slowly.

"Mhm…" He said quietly shortly afterward.

As soon as he did, Sabo felt even _guiltier _than he had before. From what he had heard, he had clearly left Luffy and whoever 'Ace' was to think that he had died on the day of the accident.. but… he couldn't remember any of them...

"Luffy... I-I'm sorry that you think I died all those years ago. But I lost my memory, and I still haven't gotten it back… I'm sorry, but I don't remember who you _or _Ace is...but," he stated.

Luffy was clearly heartbroken at this, but he was listening to what he was saying.

"I'm...I'm sure we were really close, right? You, me and Ace?" He asked. Luffy nodded again at this.

"Ace was… probably also as sad as you are about me, isn't he?" Sabo asked. Luffy nodded once _again. _

This situation had started to become a little awkward.

Luffy had seemed to happy when I had found out he was alive… guilt was building up inside Sabo since he had very clearly hurt the young boy when he had told him about his amnesia.

"Luffy, please, I... I don't want you to feel guilty anymore. You have to find him and tell him that I'm alive too. I won't be able to live with myself if I know I left an unhealed scar on someone's heart," Sabo said, quietly, yet firmly.

Luffy looked at him with a look of sadness, before once again being determined.

"Yeah… yeah, you're right… Ace should know too," Luffy said. Sabo nodded.

"I've tried my hardest to get my memory back for years, but maybe our encounter today will help me remember something… I'll try my hardest, try my hardest to remember you and Ace, okay?"

Luffy nodded again, though this time more firmly.

"Great… now… Do you think you could get off of me?" Sabo asked, trying to sound as polite as possible. Luffy nodded, grinning again as he stood up.

"I'm gonna find Ace and tell him you're alive, that's a promise!" Luffy said, looking the blonde into the eyes.

"Be sure too. I promise you too Luffy, I'll try my hardest," Sabo said, sounding determined. Luffy nodded, understanding that he was dead serious.

"Luffy! Where are you!? We have to go, _NOW! _Zoro got himself into trouble because of his sense of direction again!" Sounded the voice that Luffy recognized as Nami.

"Shishishi! I've gotta go now, my Nakama are looking for me!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Mhm. Take care, Luffy," Sabo said, happy for some strange reason.

Luffy started running towards the exit of the alley. Sabo was just about to turn around and leave as well when he heard Luffy's voice call out again.

"Oh, one more thing! Sabo, you were always the nicer brother, Shishishi!" Luffy yelled.

At this, Sabo found himself to be stunned. Brother? They were siblings?

"Lu-!" But it was already too late. The short-haired teenager had already sprinted away. Sabo sighed heavily. Great. Now he was gonna get a headache thinking over what the hell he had just said...

Luffy had re-joined up with his Nakama, hiding everything that had just happened from them. He had acted completely normal the remaining part of the day and had gone to sleep. He woke up early, wrote a note and then set out to sea.

He had a promise to keep!

* * *

** The brother chase**

* * *

Luffy could see it in the distance! The island he had been longing for! His stomach was growling. A lot. He was hungry. Very hungry. Being very hungry meant that he needed food. And a lot of it on top of that.

"Food, food, food!" The teenager exclaimed happily. The sun had risen completely by now, making it light enough to see the ocean and island in its full glory.

Though something on the island caught Luffy's attention.. was that…? It was! A jolly roger! That meant that this island was the territory of some other pirate. Luffy frowned. Which pirate was it?

He looked closer. He wasn't close enough to see all the details, but he could make out something… the Jolly Roger had a white banana hanging from underneath its nose… What a strange choice of Jolly Roger…

The island was getting closer and closer, and Luffy was getting impatient. He wanted _food! _

'Something about the banana mustache Jolly Roger feels weird, though,' Luffy thought. But he shrugged it off. He figured he would ask one of the villagers who it belonged to.

When he finally, _finally _arrived at the island, he stormed off into town, his eyes scouting for the nearest inn, restaurant, or _anywhere _where it would be possible to get food.

His eyes scouted the area, and as soon as he laid eyes upon the sign signaling that there was an inn, he stormed through town so quickly that people around were staring and holding onto their hats and glasses in order for them to not fly off in the strong wind Luffy was creating as he was running.

"FOOOD!" He yelled, bursting in through the door. People inside were staring weirdly, but he didn't care. He ran up to the counter and sat down.

"Hey there, what can I get ya, kid?" The inn owner asked.

"Food!" Luffy said. A couple of seconds of silence passed by. The owner raised an eyebrow at him.

"...Please!" He added, remembering Ace's, Sabo's, Makino's and Sanji's lessons about table manners. The inn owner grinned widely.

"Sure thing, kid," he said walking out into the back. When the food arrived several minutes later, Luffy ate as if it was his last day alive. The food here was great too! The inn owner giggled.

"You sure have one hell of an appetite," he stated.

"Well, yeah. Grandpa taught me to eat a lot," Luffy replied. The inn owner stared in amazement, wondering what he had meant by that. He just kept on scarfing more and more food down his throat, it was honestly getting impressive at this point.

The kitchen staff was having a hard time keeping up, and Luffy wasn't even going full speed.

"So, you're not from around here, are you, kid?" He asked.

"I'm not a kid. My name's Luffy. I'm 17. And yeah, you're right, I'm not," He simply said, not stopping a single second to chew, or even talk without the mouth full of food.

17? The brat didn't look a day older than 15. Was he lying about his age or being honest? Either way, what was a brat like him doing here all the way here, on an island that was not his own, all alone?

"Old man? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Old man? I'm only 57, you know," the inn owner said with a cocky grin.

The inn owner grinned even wider as Luffy just ignored him and kept eating. He liked this kid for some reason. He had the feeling that he was the type with guts, the type not afraid to stand up to himself or the people he cared about. That was always nice. He took a sip of water while gathering up his thoughts on the brat.

"Oh yeah, by the way, who does the white banana mustache Jolly Roger belong to?" Luffy asked curiously. The inn owner was caught so off guard that he spit out all the water currently in his mouth and started choking.

Luffy's expression didn't change in the slightest, and he just kept stuffing more food.

"You mean… You don't know that's the flag of Whitebeard!?" The inn owner asked, surprised. Luffy's eyes widened… oh yeah, he remembered!

Back at Alabasta, the tattoo on Ace's back! It had been the exact same. That's why it seemed familiar to him! And this was great, now finding the Whitebeards wouldn't be as hard as he thought it would be!

"Wait, you mean this island is the mustache Ossan's territory!?" Luffy asked, happily.

"Whitebeard," The inn owner corrected.

"And yes, it is. I don't know how to thank him. The world government gave up on us long ago, but when he just happened to stumble upon this little, unknown island, he took care of us all and granted us protection. I don't know how to ever thank him," the inn owner said, a look of respect reflected in his eyes.

Luffy smiled as he finally stopped eating. He sighed a sigh of satisfaction, before rubbing his belly and smiling widely.

"That was delicious! Thank you, Old man!" Luffy said. He giggled as a response.

"My pleasure," he said.

"Oh yeah! About mustache Ossan, do you know where he is?" Luffy asked. The inn owner raised an eyebrow. What could a squirt like _him _possibly want from _Whitebeard_? He wasn't gonna try anything reckless or stupid now, was he? The inn owner _did _picture him as the type who would try to pull something like that...

"Yes, in fact, I do. What could you possibly want with _Whitebeard, _ki-Luffy," the inn owner corrected.

Luffy looked up at the inn owner, before smiling with calm eyes.

"Well, because I've gotta tell 'em something important," Luffy said, still grinning widely.

"Oh, and what might that be?" He asked curiously. The moment he did, Luffy's eyes softened. He got calmer, happier. Did he already know Whitebeard? He must've. There was no other way his expression would look like that when mentioning one of the world's most feared men's names.

"Well, you know Ace, right?" Luffy said, interrupting the inn owner's thoughts.

"Fire-fist? The commander of the second division? Sure, I know him. He's a real gentleman, I tell you," he said smiling. Luffy nodded agreeing.

"What about him?" The inn owner asked, looking at Luffy in anticipation.

Luffy took a deep breath before answering.

"Well he's kind of my brother and I need to find him in order to let him know that this other brother we have that we thought died is alive and it's really important," Luffy said not stopping a second to catch his breath.

The inn owner blinked in surprise. He hadn't caught everything he had just said, but a couple of keywords… Brother, find him, let him know, _other _brother, died, alive, really important.

A second later he burst out laughing. A couple of seconds passed before he stopped, and Luffy only glared at him innocently.

"Wow, didn't expect that one, kid," he said.

"Luffy," Luffy corrected.

"Right, right. Anyway, if you're the brother of Ace, I'd be more than happy to tell you where Whitebeard is currently at," the inn owner said.

Now that he looked more closely, he did see a resemblance. And that would explain the massive appetite as well. He could only hope that Luffy wouldn't fall asleep in the middle of their conversation like Ace had after he was done eating.

Luffy's smile widened even further, something usually not possible. He grinned, clearly _very _happy.

"Thanks, Old man!" Luffy said. The inn owner went into the back and came back not too much later with a map.

"You see here? 3 days ago, that's where they were sailing. But I'm assuming that they're running out of supplies. That would mean that they would travel to the nearest island, which would be… there!" He said, pointing to an island on the map, and marking it with a large 'X'.

"Thank you, Old man! You're really smart," Luffy said, praising him. Luffy rolled the map together and stuck it into his shirt. He looked at the inn owner and then at stacks of dishes that had built up over the last 30 minutes.

"How much?" He asked. Once again, the inn owner blinked before breaking into a wide grin.

"It's on the house. Any friend, or brother for that sake, of Ace, can eat free here any time!" He said, smiling.

"Really!? Thanks, Old man!" Luffy said, heading towards the exit.

"It was nice meeting ya!"

"Likewise!"

And with that, Luffy stormed out of the inn and back down towards his boat. This was great news, now he knew where to look!

"Shishishishi.." Luffy giggled quietly. He was full, had the information he needed, and was ready to set sail if everything was going to go this smoothly, this was gonna be a breeze.

"Ah! Now, what am I gonna do!?" It was exactly 5 seconds after Luffy had thought the thought of this being easy that he realized a fatal mistake. He didn't have a single clue about how to navigate a ship.

How the heck was he supposed to get the island!? Partially panicking, Luffy began looking around for an alternative. If _he _couldn't navigate, maybe he could find someone else who could?

He scouted the port for potential people before he spotted a cool looking lady standing next to a _submarine. _Yes! She was perfect!

"Lady! Hey, lady!" He called out. It seemed to take a couple of yells before she realized that he was calling out to _her. _Luffy approached her and instantly got met with a serious glare.

"What do you want, kid? I'm busy."

"Please, can you take me to an island in your submarine?" Luffy asked. The lady looked stunned at him before answering.

"What are you, 4? No, I'm not just going to take some random boy, who I don't know, to an island in _MY _submarine," she said.

"But I asked nicely!" Luffy exclaimed, not understanding how asking nicely didn't work.

"Yes, and because you did that, I won't yell at you to go scram, I'll just ask you to leave nicely. Then we're even," she replied. Luffy's face grimaced, and he began sulking.

"Oh, c'mon it's just a little trip! It's not gonna hurt ya!" He exclaimed.

"I said _NO_, kid. Besides, do you even have any idea where you're going?"

"Yes, I do," Luffy said pulling out the map from his pocket. The woman looked in surprise, obviously not expecting him to _actually _have a destination.

"Hmph," she forcefully took the map from Luffy's hand and looked it over carefully.

"Hey-!" Luffy was about to protest but decided to keep his mouth shut as the expression on the woman's face changed.

"...Well, lucky you, I guess. The island you're heading too is on the way to where I'm headed," she said, obviously annoyed.

Luffy's face lit up.

"Does that mean-!?"

"Hop in, kid," She said, opening the steel door that led into the submarine.

"Yahoo! Thanks, Lady! Oh, and my name's not kid, It's Luffy."

"Same goes for me. The name's Anna, not _lady,_" she said. Luffy just nodded before heading inside the steel door. Anna followed shortly after and closed the door behind her. She went to the control room, Luffy following curiously behind her, and sat down in a chair.

"Whoa, there are so many buttons! How do you know which ones to press?" Luffy exclaimed.

"Cause I'm the captain, idiot. Sheesh, an annoying kid, _and _an idiot? What the hell did I agree to?" She said, clearly not caring that Luffy could hear her.

Luffy didn't care though and decided that he would run off and explore the submarine on his own. It was surprisingly big, _easily _being able to fit more than 30 people. 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, a storage room, and a control room. Even claustrophobic people would be able to manage down here.

Luffy went to take a look around Anna's room, and his eyes widened as soon as he did. The room was packed to the brim with books and herbs. Luffy went in to get a closer look and let the door stay open behind her.

Anna's room looked more like Chopper's office than an actual bedroom. Was she a doctor? That would explain the many books and herbs. Luffy danced around the room carefully, wanting to see what was in the closet at the end of the room.

It was a little messy, so Luffy was careful not to step on anything on the floor.

Once he reached the closet, he opened the door and glanced at its content. It was filled with… he took one of them up into his hand. A bra? He picked up another one. A pair of underwear. Boring, this was just the place she kept her underwear.

Just as Luffy was about to throw the inanimate objects onto the floor and head outside again, something grabbed him by the arm. _TIGHT. _

"OW, OW, OW, OW, that hurts!" Luffy yelled, looked at the person who was strangling him. He was met by Anna's very flushed and _very _furious face.

Damn, this girls' grip hurt just as much as Nami's punches! It was in that exact moment that Luffy realized he might have screwed up a little.

"What the hell, you pervert?! I let you onto my submarine, something I normally _never, _do, and the _first _thing you do is go to my room and look at my UNDERWEAR!?" She yelled tightening her grip, making Luffy's face flinch in pain.

"OW! What's the big deal!? It's just underwear, isn't it!?"

"Just underwear? JUST UNDERWEAR!?" Anna's face flushed even redder, and she quicker than Luffy could realize, grabbed him, and more easily than it should've been, forcefully _threw him _into the _wall, _making the incredibly thick metal bend and form a sphere where he had landed.

Now _that _hurt.

"You! Luffy-kid. You _BETTER _behave on the rest of this trip, or I WON'T HESITATE to throw you overboard and STRAIGHT INTO THE OCEAN. YOU GOT THAT!?" She yelled. Luffy gulped. This lady was even scarier than Nami!

"Y-yes ma'am!"

"Ma'am!? I'm only 42, you know!" Anna replied. Luffy's eyes widened. 42!? She looked 21!

"42!? But that means… that you're… _Old!" _Luffy said… _bad idea… _a murderous aura appeared to be forming around Anna. Luffy gulped even louder this time. He was seriously starting to worry about his own safety here… curse him and his always honest mouth!

"What… did...you… say…. YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE BRAT!?" Anna yelled, as she grabbed Luffy's arm and tossed him over his shoulder, _straight _into the hard metal floor. She jumped on him before Luffy had the chance to recover, and grabbed his arm and twisted it in a way that _hurt. _

Twisting his arm shouldn't hurt. He was made of rubber for God's sake! This lady was seriously something...

"Now, are you sorry for calling me old, Luffy!?"

"Y-yes! OW! OW! OW! OW! Let me go please!" The grip around his arm tightened, making the pain even worse.

"NOT YET, YOU LITTLE BRAT! Are you sorry for sneaking around my room and stealing my underwear!?" She said. Luffy didn't even have to hesitate before answering.

"Y-YES!"

"GOOD, then go to the other room and _don't _come out before I _make you. _GOT THAT!?" She said, once again tightening the grip around Luffy's arm.

"I do, I do! JUST LET GO, PLEASE!" Luffy begged. Anna did so, and as soon as she did, Luffy stormed out the room and into the other bedroom and closed the door.

Anna basically had Luffy locked up in the bedroom for the rest of the day, as his 'punishment' for everything he had done. Luffy didn't dare do otherwise.

Anna was scary. And strong. _Monstrously _strong. Luffy's limbs still ached from the beating she had given him. The first 5 hours, she had basically been too angry to even dare walk _close_ to the door to the room Luffy was in.

In comparison to Anna's room, Luffy's was more cramped. There wasn't really anything in there aside from the bed, an empty desk and an empty closet. No windows. Had he been claustrophobic, then he wasn't sure how he would handle being here.

Luckily, he wasn't. Though sitting around was boring, so at last, the rubber boy decided to just lay down and close his eyes. Minutes later, they went shut, and everything went dark.

"Luffy, hey Luffy-kid!" Sounded a voice, as well as a loud knock on the door. Luffy slowly opened his eyes and took a couple of seconds before he remembered where he was.

"Anna? That you?" Luffy yelled, still a little scared to sit up. His eyes had gotten used to the dark by now, but the light streaming in from the other side of the door irritated his eyes and made everything dark again.

"No, it's flippin' Kaido. Of course, it's me, idiot! Come out, I made dinner," sounded the voice, followed by a couple of footsteps signaling that she walking away.

Luffy shot up from the bed and out the door. His eyes were irritated by the sudden change of lighting, but he didn't care and just ran down to the dining table. He had missed 2 meals today because he had been sleeping for so long. He was _hungry! _

Anna was already sitting at the table, which was covered by delicious-looking food. Not as delicious as Sanji's of course, but after not having eaten for 7 hours, it looked and smelled like heaven!

"Wow, Anne! You made this?!" Luffy exclaimed, sitting down, drool dripping from his mouth.

"Why, surprised I can cook? And it's _ANNA. _And wipe that drool from your mouth! Do you _want _to be strangled again!?" Anna asked harshly. Luffy instantly listened and did as she said.

As dinner went on, the atmosphere seemed to get a little less tense. Maybe Anna had been grumpy because she was hungry? Luffy got like that sometimes too, so he totally understood!

"Hey," interrupted Anna's voice. It sounded much calmer than any of the other times she had talked to him.

"Yeah?" Luffy said with the face full of food.

"You never told me why you're going to Kaika island. You seem awfully young to be traveling all on your own," she said. Luffy swallowed all the food in his mouth before replying.

"I'm not that young, I'm 17," Luffy said, looking at the woman, who's eyes widened.

"17? You _look _like you're 15," she replied, which did actually offend the smaller than average boy, but he didn't say anything about it.

"Well, I'm going there, 'cause I know that's where mustache Ossa- Whitebeard, is," Luffy simply said. Anna choked on her food and looked at Luffy with wider eyes than Luffy had ever seen.

"Whitebeard!? What the _hell _could _you _possibly want from _him_?" Anna asked, eyes wide. This was weird. Sure, all people had a little natural fear for Whitebeard, but Anna seemed… protective? Angry? At the statement Luffy just made.

"Well, it's kinda hard to explain. Anyway, I need to get onto their ship and find Ace," Luffy said. Anna's face frowned and changed into a mix of offense and anger.

"Humph, what do you even want with a brat like him?" She asked. Luffy realized something by that sentence.

"Hold on, Anni, you know Ace!?" Luffy said as his eyes lit up with joy.

"Yes, I know that brat. And again, it's _ANNA!"_ She said, scoffing. Luffy gulped once again as her eyes started to turn furious again, but much to his relief, she calmed down and continued to eat her rice.

"I worked there as a doctor for around a year. All pirates are the same, they're all too stubborn to admit when something hurts. Stupid idiots, all of them. "Oh, no it doesn't hurt," "I'm not injured, just a little tired!", argh! Just thinking about it is giving me headaches!" The woman said, rubbing the bridge between her eyes.

"Anyways, Whitebeard thought it would be a good idea to bring that Ace-brat on board. Ever since he did, there was nothing but trouble. He tried to kill the captain every single damn day for a hundred days straight."

"He got more and more hurt after each attempt, but he was too damn stubborn to want any help from any of us. Marco and I had to _drag _him to the infirmary _together _before he finally got treatment. Sheesh, all pirates are so hopeless," she said.

Luffy's eyes widened. That wasn't what he had heard from Ace… When Ace had shown him his tattoo back at Alabasta, he had seemed so proud.

"It's my pride and joy," he had said.

"They're my family," he had said.

Was what Anna was saying really true? Had Ace hated the Whitebeard pirates at first? But what happened? Luffy found himself wanting answers. Answers, that he just wouldn't be able to get right now…

"Hey, kid, you're staring off into space," Anna commented.

"Oh! Sorry about that, Shishishi!"

"Anyway, you're not planning to fight or harm Whitebeard or his crew in any way, are you? 'Cause that would be straight-up suicidal, I'm telling you," Anna said, WAY to calmly.

"No! Of course not! I would never harm Ace's captain or his Nakama!" Luffy exclaimed, stating the obvious.

"Just what _is _your relationship with Ace anyways?" Anna asked.

"He's my big brother!"

As soon as Luffy told her that, Anna's jaw appeared to drop to the floor along with the chopsticks and the bowl of rice.

"Your _what_?"

"Big brother," Luffy repeated. Anna put her fingers to her forehead and looked like she just realized something.

"Of course. Of freaking course. That explains why you reminded me so much of him! I thought it was just a coincidence, but if you're his _brother, _then it all makes sense!" Anna said, sounding like she had a headache. Luffy simply laughed and finished his food.

Anna started talking again as she picked up the mess that had been made on the floor, and took all the dishes in the meantime as well.

"Come, help me do the dishes," she said.

"But I don't know how-"

"Come, and _HELP ME _do the _DISHES. _It wasn't a question," she said, to which Luffy was left with no choice but to listen.

As the two were doing the dishes, Luffy doing better than Anna had imagined he would, a new conversation started.

"So. Whaddya want on Whitebeard's ship?" Anna asked.

"Long story," Luffy replied. Anna just sighed and finished drying off the plate she was holding.

"If you're Ace's little brother, I assume you're also a pirate?" She stated, to which Luffy nodded vividly.

"Yep! I have a bounty of 300.000.000 and everything, Shishishi!" He exclaimed, smiling. Anna smiled as well, for some reason.

* * *

**Anna**

* * *

"Let me give you some tips," Anna said.

"Tips? For what?"

"For when you're going to Whitebeard's ship, obviously," Anna said, a slightly annoyed look on her face.

"But I don't need tips! They're Ace's Nakama, I don't have to do anything special!" Luffy replied.

Anna sighed before replying. "Just because they're Ace's Nakama, then it doesn't give you a reason to act as disrespectful as you have here," Anna said in a sharp tone of voice. Luffy was just about to complain but decided against it as he didn't want to get strangled by Anna again.

The two of them finished doing the dishes and moved to the control room. The submarine had been on auto-pilot for the last while, but Anna took over again.

"Number one. Address the people of higher standing correctly," Anna started.

"Eh? I thought you were giving me tips, not manner lessons!" Luffy exclaimed, getting flashbacks of many boring hours together with Makino.

"Be quiet and listen! No interruptions, you got that?" Luffy nodded and stiffened in his seat.

"If you happen to meet a commander, such as.. Marco for example, then say 'commander' when addressing them, okay?" Anna said, staring daggers into Luffy's eyes. He nodded.

"Number two. Try not to cause any trouble. Though knowing you, you probably will," Anna said. The room fell into an awkward silence for several seconds, as Luffy was too scared to reply. Anna broke it a few seconds later.

"And lastly… don't… don't do anything threatening towards any crewmate, or Whitebeard for that sake okay? They won't hesitate to kill you," Anna said a little too seriously. Luffy just stared at her. He could feel it. Anna… Anna did really care about them…

Alright! It was decided. Luffy was gonna follow these rules! He was sure Ace would be happy if he did as well. Luffy smiled.

"Go to bed, kid," Anna said.

"What!? It's not even 10 PM yet! I'm not a kid, I don't have a bedtime," Luffy said.

"Yes, you are. And when I say go to bed, you _go to bed,_" Anna commanded. Luffy sulked but managed to drag himself to his room where he lied awake for long, before finally, at long last, falling asleep.

"Kid! Kid, wake up! We're here! We're at Kaika island! Don't make me _come in _and _wake you_!" Sounded a voice from the other side of the door. Luffy sat up and yawned before he realized that Anna may just have made a death threat at him, and hurrying out the door.

He was greeted by Anna's lovely, surprisingly neat self. She looked nice, especially for a 42-year-old woman.

"Nice to see you're awake, kid," she said. Luffy just nodded, and the two of them headed to the giant iron door, leading out of the submarine.

As soon as he poked his head out, the sun blinded his eyes for several seconds, but the open-air felt refreshing. The smell of salt from the ocean instantly hit him. It was refreshing. Being stuck in a giant bundle of inclosed metal for many hours sure made it feel good to be out in the open again.

Luffy breathed in a deep breath of the nice, refreshing air and stretched. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, everything was great. He turned to face Anna, who was still standing behind him.

"Well, this is where we say goodbye," Anna said. Luffy stared for a couple of seconds.. he was gonna miss her… Yeah sure, he had been scared for his life _several _times while traveling with her, and she had threatened and abused him _a lot…_ okay, maybe he wasn't gonna miss her as much after all.

Luffy nodded quickly, before turning around. He couldn't wait to get away from Anna, and hopefully, never see her again!

"Kid? You just gonna leave like _that_?" Anna asked, a trace of anger in her voice.

"Th-thanks for the ride, Annie!" He said, sweating.

"IT'S ANNA. A-N-N-A. Is that so hard to understand!?" She yelled, grabbing Luffy by the arm.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Luffy moaned. Darn it! He had been so close to avoiding this again! Though all of a sudden, the grip around his arm loosened. He looked back at Anna who was standing there, an almost sad expression on her face.

She let go of Luffy's arm before walking back to the submarine.

"Take care, kid. Don't get yourself killed," Anna said. Luffy was left wondering why she had said that but got no answer as she just closed the door and re-sunk into the water. A strong feeling of loneliness and emptiness hit Luffy in the stomach for some reason, but he shoved it aside as turned his attention to the island. Now all he had to was find the Moby Dick! Luffy smiled. Off he went, on his search to find Ace's boat!

Well… that had proved a lot easier than Luffy thought. The boat was literally humungous! No one would be able to miss it, it was so big.

Just how big of a crew were the Whitebeard pirates!? Luffy had heard only a little about them, but no one had mentioned the huge freakin' ship that looked like a whale! Wait… was there a connection there? Meh, who knew. Luffy shrugged it off and admired the many pirates going to and from their boat.

Great, Luffy had found their boat. Now, all that mattered was getting on board and finding Ace!

Luffy grinned. With all this mayhem going on, he would be able to sneak onto the boat easily.

"All men aboard! Last chance if you wanna come back out to sea with us!" Yelled a voice, and instantly, people started streaming back to the ship, the perfect opportunity for Luffy. He grinned, and took his hat off and let it hand around his neck, so his head wouldn't stick out so much.

"Alrighty… here we go!" Luffy exclaimed, running over the crowd the was moving slowly because of the many people who tried squishing their way onto the boat. Blending into the crowd couldn't possibly have gone any easier.

Now all that was left to do was to pray that no one realized that he wasn't really a Whitebeard pirate and get on board and find Ace. It's not like they would believe him if he said: "well, I'm Ace's ACTUAL brother." Not without Ace actually being there.

"Hey! You! Short one!" Luffy flinched out of surprise. Someone was on to him. Oh crap! Luffy looked to see who had called out to him and saw a… woman (?) wearing a kimono coming towards him. No- wait, when he looked closely, it was a man. The voice was too deep to belong to a woman too. Meaning- an Okama.

"Y-yeah? Whaddya want?" Luffy asked as calmly as possible. The man looked Luffy up and down before answering.

"Come give a hand," he said. Luffy blinked in surprise.

Silence…

"I _said, _come give a hand loading the last supplies!" Izo shouted. Luffy nodded and followed the commander to a pile of boxes.

"Just start loading them onto the ship. We're leaving in 10, so don't let it take any longer, okay?" He said.

"You got it!" Luffy exclaimed, to which he started carrying the boxes and placing them onto the ship. Good, no one seemed to call him out for not being a real Whitebeard pirate… if all went according to plan, he could _finally _get to see Ace, and tell him about Sabo!

"Commander Izo! We've finished loading the last supplies onto the ship!" Came a voice from the other direction.

"Great, head back onto the deck before we leave. You there, are you finished as well!?" Izo yelled from a little further.

"Yes, I am!" Luffy yelled as a response.

"All men aboard, we're heading out!" Came a voice from the Moby Dick again.

"Good, let's hurry! We're the last ones left, and we've gotta get on before she takes off!" Izo exclaimed, to which Luffy only nodded and followed his lead.

2 minutes later, and the ship had left the port and was once again sailing out towards the big open ocean. There was still a lot of people on board, making it _almost _a little too crowded. Luffy didn't care about that though, all that mattered was finding Ace!

He looked around, desperately scanning the huge crowd of people for his big brother. But even as the crowd started dying down, he could see nothing.

'Where's Ace…?' Luffy thought, spacing out a little bit.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps come towards him. Luffy was so caught up in thought that he didn't realize before the man said something to him.

"Hey there, looking for something?" It said.

* * *

** Thatch**

* * *

The Moby Dick was lively. Livelier than usual. That was understandable though. The entire crew had just re-gathered after taking a couple of days of rest at an island. Thatch was glad that they were heading back out to sea, though.

He had always been a bigger fan of the sailing part of the pirate life. Something about the ocean just spoke to him… no, not literally, but he felt more natural sailing around on the unpredictable waters that took up over 80% of the entire world.

Thatch grinned. The sun was shining and the sky was clear. Not a storm in sight. This was gonna be a great day!

"Hey, Thatch! We're about to start unloading supplies, come give hand, will you?" 16th division commander, Izo, the crossdressing kimono-wearing man yelled.

"Do I have to?" Thatch asked, his brow furrowing.

"Marco's orders, not mine," Izo simply replied as he left again. Thatch sighed. When _Marco _of all people requested- no ordered something, you better get your ass to work, because that blue phoenix was _scary. _

The crowd on board had finally started dying down a little bit, as people were moving to their respected rooms to rest, or elsewhere.

This was more like it. The Moby Dick could get overly crowded at times, but Thatch didn't mind.

Well, of course, this meant more work for him as the 4th division commander _and _head chef.

Cooking for over 1000 people was not as easy as it may sound, but Thatch loved doing it more than all the tedious paperwork that was required as a division commander. He would often trick other people into doing it for him, or play Marco or even _Oyaji _to avoid doing it.

Most of the time, he got away with it. _Most of the time. _

Just as Thatch was about to head under the deck to help unload supplies, something caught his attention. A boy. But not just any boy. A small, black-haired boy looking utterly amazed by his surroundings.

'Interesting… He looks so young,' Thatch thought. He was pretty sure he would've remembered someone like him... heck! He looked even younger than _Ace, _the _little brother _of the entire crew. A new member, perhaps?

Thatch approached the boy slowly. As soon as he heard the commander's footsteps, he turned to him in surprise.

"Hey there, looking for something?" Thatch asked, very clearly being what the boy was doing. The small boy grinned widely, clearly being very excited.

"Yeah, have you seen Ac- I MEAN commander Ace anywhere?" He asked, a tone of carelessness sounding clearly in his voice.

"Ace?" Thatch brought a hand to the bottom of his chin. He was requesting Ace. A new member of his division?

"No, sorry, kid. He's on a mission. If all goes according to plan he should be back in 2 days," Thatch said, looking like he remembered something as soon as he had.

"But knowing him, he's probably got himself caught up in some kind of trouble, so I'd say at least 4 days," Thatch said, looking at the boy. He caught a glint of something in his eye. Was it.. disappointment? Thatch couldn't tell for sure, 'cause it went away again just about as quickly as it had appeared.

"Alright, thanks, commander Bread Hair!" Thatch immediately face-planted into the floor.

"Whe-where did you learn that nickname!?" He exclaimed. He thought he had gotten rid of that ages ago! When Ace had first been rebelling, that particular nickname seemed to be what he identified Thatch as.

The others had slowly started picking up on it, and all aboard the ships you could hear muttering of 'Bread hair' everywhere. That had _not _been fun, but the nicknaming had stopped as soon as Ace had called Marco a 'blue turkey', and he had gotten his ass fairly and thoroughly kicked. No one had dared to mention _anything _about _any _nicknames ever since then. Ace had spent 2 weeks in the infirmary.

'Damn that Ace! Teaching his subordinates that name! He is _so_ dead once he gets back!' The cook thought, not realizing that the little boy was staring at him. As soon as he did, he snapped out of his thoughts and started talking to him again.

"So, uh, you new here? I don't feel like I've seen you around before." 'And I would definitely recognize someone like him,' He thought afterward.

"Yep," Luffy said, popping the 'P' sound.

"You seem awfully young… how old are you exactly?"

"17," he answered quickly.

'17? He doesn't look older than 15... And I thought Ace looked young for his age…'

"Wait, what's your name-"

"THATCH! Where the hell are you!? I thought I asked you to be down 10 minutes ago, yoi!" Came a terrifying yell from nearby. Thatch gulped. Crap, he had been stuck in conversation with this kid for so long that he had completely forgotten that Marco had asked after him.

"Well, I gotta go now! Oh, and if you're gonna stay, then be careful _not _to make Marco angry. And good luck with Ace as your division commander!" Thatch yelled. Seconds later, he vanished, and another man came _storming _past Luffy.

Luffy couldn't help but feel a little bad for Thatch, but he just giggled and continued on with his day.

* * *

**And that's that! Chapter 2 should hopefully be out already (as it's already written), but if not, expect it to be really soon! OwO**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi again: **_Heyo! As promised, here is chappie 2, out the next day! Well, I already have the first 4 chapters written, but I wanna at least glance through them quickly before releasing them. Plus, I find that if you release a story, it gains more popularity if you do it slowly over time :b. So expect chapter 3 to be out tomorrow, and chapter 4 the day after. :D For further details, read the author's note at the bottom of this chappie. _

OxO

**Disclaimer: **One piece is still only owned by Eiichiro Oda and Toei, nothing new here :/

OxO

**A Follow, Favorite and/or Review would be highly appreciated. I can take criticism, so just hit me!**

OxO

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Thatch**

* * *

That following evening, Thatch was serving dinner in the mess hall as did he usually. After overlooking that everything in the kitchen was going smoothly, he went to sit with the commanders, as he usually did.

Nothing was out of the ordinary. Well, except for the fact that Ace wasn't there to stir up his usual commotion by falling asleep or annoying Marco with bad table manners or childish behavior.

Dinner was never as fun without Ace, but the commanders had done it without him many times before, so they could do it without him now. He was bound to return sometime during the next 4 days anyway.

But even so, Thatch couldn't shake the feeling that something was nagging him. Even though nothing seemed out of the ordinary, something _felt _out of the ordinary.

As Thatch glanced around the dining hall, it hit him what he thought was so weird.

'The kid from earlier isn't here… that's not good, we need to make sure he eats properly…' Thatch thought back to earlier today when he had gotten a short glance at the new recruit. He seemed awfully small and skinny for a 17-year-old. He couldn't help but wonder if the boy was eating properly...

Thatch wouldn't want to end up in the same mess that he had when Ace had first joined. The boy had refused to eat _anything _he served him for 48 days. 48 DAYS! Thatch had sworn over a million times that he would never dare to poison food, but Ace had refused nonetheless.

The result was Ace eating an unbalanced diet for too long, and eventually ending up with dietary issues when he finally _did _start eating again, and they were _forced _to feed him so he wouldn't starve himself to death after he refused to eat the proper diet.

All in all, it had been a mess, and it was all because the hot-headed brat had refused to eat during the first couple of weeks he was on board.

"Something wrong, yoi?" Came a voice from next to him. Thatch turned and was met by Marco's calm and collected face. Thatch sighed before answering the first division commander.

"Well, I'm just worried. I ran into a new kid earlier today, and he's not here. I'm worried we'll end up in the same mess we did when Ace refused to eat anything," Thatch said.

Marco's expression strained, and turned a mixture of confusion and worry.

"New kid? Are you sure? I haven't heard anything about a new kid, yoi," Marco replied. Thatch blinked. Was he assuming…?

"What? You think he was _not _a part of the crew or something?" Thatch asked.

"It's a possibility, yoi," Marco said, his eyes still calm, though now full of seriousness. Thatch blinked vividly again. He grinned widely. That kid? The scrawny little kid he had met before?

"He was just a kid, though. Do you really think someone like him would be stupid enough to sneak on board our ship, while _all _of us are here? He even told me he was gonna be a part of the second division. Personally I don't think he's a spy," Thatch told Marco, who still didn't look convinced.

"But still, I'm going to discuss this with Oyaji. You never know this is the Grand Line. You know as well as I do that appearance doesn't judge strength, not in this ocean, yoi," Marco replied.

He had a point. Thatch knew he was right, but the kid from before had seemed relaxed, not nervous or anxious. Had he been a spy, Thatch was _sure _he would've gotten some kind of signal from his eyes. Desire, fear, bloodlust. But Thatch hadn't seen anything but two, shining, innocent grey orbs.

Just the kind of eyes you would expect a child to have, not some kind of spy or evil pirate for that sake.

"If you see him again, I want you to take him to me or Oyaji. Is that understood, yoi? I'll tell the rest of the commanders to keep a look as well, yoi," Marco said, getting up from his seat and heading towards the door.

Thatch was getting an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. He felt… _bad _for some reason. Deciding that his appetite was ruined, he went outside to catch a breath of fresh air. The sun was more than half set at this point, the darkness of night being only a couple of minutes away.

Thatch walked to the railing, and looked over the many roaring waves that made up the ocean he called home. Sometimes, even a social a cheery guy like Thatch needed a couple of minutes alone.

And he did. He spent several minutes just staring out over the beautiful ocean, the loud mouthed partying still going strong behind him. He sighed. The silence was calming. Well- this kind of silence was anyway. This was the kind of silence, not even Thatch minded.

But strangely enough, Thatch found that he couldn't think of anything other than the boy he had met earlier.

"Could he really have been a spy…?" Thatch questioned, starting to doubt if he had been wrong. He couldn't remember. He cursed at himself for not taking a couple of extra minutes with the boy. He hadn't even gotten his name.

"Thatch! There you are!" A voice interrupted his thoughts. Thatch looked towards the source of the calling and saw Izo, a close friend and fellow commander, come towards him calmly.

Thatch smiled. Alright, enough sulking and standing alone being all philosophical about life for one day.

"Hey, Izo. What's up?" Thatch asked.

The kimono-wearing Okama smirked. _Shady. _Thatch felt a chill run down his spine as he did. That kind of smirk was _never _good news. Well, never good news for him, at least.

This meant one of three things;

1. Marco had discovered one of his pranks or attempts to shove his paperwork onto someone else and was on his way to kick his ass, but that wasn't likely, considering he hadn't done much recently...

2. Haruta had thought up a new prank and was planning to get him involved, to which Thatch mostly agreed, often ending with possibility number 1.

3. Some kind of annoying duty or pain in the ass mission was being transferred from another member and onto him. _That _was the most likely possibility, but the one that Thatch hated the most.

"What is it this time?" The cook asked, annoyance already plastered all over his face. Izo walked up next to him and placed his hands on the railing just as Thatch had before speaking.

"Marco sent a whole nother stack of paperwork to your office. He wants them done, _tonight,_" he said, Thatch sighing.

"Why me? Can't he wait for some other time?" Thatch asked.

"He was very clear. "Izo. Go find that idiot cook and tell him to get the stack of assignments done _TONIGHT,_" Izo said, followed by loud giggle. Thatch sighed.

"He said he threw some of Ace's paperwork into the bunch, since you always make him do yours, and he's still out on a mission. I wouldn't wanna mess with him right now, so you'd better just get to it," he said.

Thatch sighed but nodded. He knew Izo was right.

"And I have night watch duty tonight.. just great. Well, guess I better get to it, then," Thatch said unenthusiastically. Izo nodded as a reply and walked away again. Thatch, with heavy footsteps, went back to his room, and could only sigh heavily as he looked at the massive stack of paper piled up on his desk.

"Guess we're doing this," Thatch said, getting to work.

* * *

**Luffy**

* * *

Luffy was currently sitting leaned up against a wall in an unoccupied corner of the Moby Dick. It was getting darker by the second, and the cool night breeze began flowing around in the air soothingly.

Luffy smiled.

Today had been an awesome day, even though he hadn't gotten to see Ace!

This ship was _so _freakin' _cool. _First, Luffy had never _ever _in his life been on a ship this massive. There had been so much to see that Luffy was fairly sure that he there was still about a good half that was still left unexplored to him.

It had so many different rooms, and the deck was _massive, _and so was the figurehead. Luffy imagined that sitting there would've been nice. Though he didn't try it, as he still had so much other stuff to see!

Second, the crew here was amazing! Luffy could see why Ace joined up here, they were all like one big family. There were so many different kinds of people, all coming from different parts of the world.

And they were all united here, on this ship. And they all looked out for each other. The commanders looked at all members equally, or at least the commanders Luffy had seen had.

He still hadn't gotten a chance to see Whitebeard, but Luffy didn't care. He figured there was more than enough time to do so later!

All of a sudden, the otherwise calm silence was interrupted by a sound not common coming from Luffy. His stomach growled. Loudly.

Luffy bit his lower lip. He hadn't eaten anything all day, something that _never _happened. He was hungry, starving, in fact. He figured he could go to the kitchen and eat something later. Now was later.

Luffy got up from his uncomfortable position. The sun was now fully set, a perfect time to sneak into the kitchen and get a little to eat!

He stretched and set out on his search for the kitchen. Where was it again…?

He walked past it during his time of exploration. He had actually been very tempted to go in and eat something, but he had been stopped by a tall guy with a large, twirling mustache.

He told him it was bad nakamaship to eat food before everyone else, and so Luffy, with a frown on his face and an urge to eat, had walked away and continued on with his day.

But now that everyone had eaten something, he could go there and eat something! After all, he wasn't _their _nakama, but Anna had told him to behave, and so he did. Ace would definitely have been proud of his good manners!

"Shishishi!" Luffy giggled and grinned, walking along the railing of the ship, letting the faint aroma in the air lead him towards the kitchen.

The fragrance of food was still in the air, but it was weaker on this side of the ship. So that would mean, that the kitchen was on the other side!

Luffy began running, the thought of delicious meat clouding his head, making him run faster than he was realizing. The aroma only got stronger and stronger by the second, which meant he was going in the right direction.

After what seemed like hours, the smell was at its strongest and was oozing out of a closed door. Luffy drooled and pulled the door handle without hesitation.

Inside, was a _ginormous _kitchen, which was currently completely empty. But that wasn't what caught Luffy's attention. No, it was the 10 fridges standing in the back. _10_!

Luffy rushed there quicker than ever before and opened the first door. As he had anticipated, it was full of _meat. _

Luffy drooled before pulling out a large chuck of sea king meat. "Thanks for the food!" He exclaimed, and he started to eat each and every single little thing that he could get his hands on. Chicken, beef, pork, tiger, alligator, boar, sea king, something he didn't even _recognize, _him, the MEAT LOVER, and it was DELICIOUS!

Luffy basically emptied the first fridge completely, and just skimmed the rest of the fridges for the food he knew he really liked. He left the vegetables mostly untouched, though.

After being so full that he felt his body would burst, was it not made of rubber, he walked to the door in order to go search for a good corner to sleep in.

Since he wasn't _really _a Whitebeard pirate, he didn't have a room. He had accidentally fallen asleep on the Sunny's figurehead so often though, that he didn't mind sleeping on the hard wood.

The ship looked completely different at night, mostly because of the lack of people. Though there had been a party going on, so Luffy could only assume that that was where everyone was at.

Still, it was completely different during night time, but a _good _kind of different. Luffy smiled. Ace had good nakama, he knew it!

As Luffy was walking around, he eventually reached the back of the ship. There was a nice little corner, away from all the people. He was sure he wasn't gonna be a burden if he slept there!

Carefully, Luffy sat down and glared out at the dark ocean before him. He yawned. Today had been an eventful day, to say the least!

He leaned back, the hard wood not irritating him or his rubber body in the slightest. The boy placed both of his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. Any second now.. any second now, he would fall asleep.

Though right as his eyes were darkening before him, he heard something. Or more precisely, some_one _coming towards him. Luffy's eyes shot open and was met by a familiar face.

Luffy's eyes widened and his mouth grinned in realization of who it was. And just as Luffy was about to ask a question, the man took the words right out of his mouth.

"It's you…" he said.

* * *

**Thatch**

* * *

Thatch had seen a lot of unusual and outright crazy stuff in his life. Hell, it was a surprise that anything even shocked him anymore, but every now and so often, something would completely blow the commander's head.

On this particular evening, it had been the discovery he made when out night patrolling.

The hard-working chef had finally, _finally _after _hours _of paperwork, and several wrist cramps, finished up with everything Marco had loaded upon him.

Thatch had wished he could've just stopped there and called it a night, but he had night watch duties today too.

Not that Thatch got why it was necessary. Why would anyone sneak aboard or attack _their _ship? Whitebeard was a name feared over all the 6 oceans, so who would dare to try mess with their crew?

Thatch sighed. He had unwillingly started thinking about the boy from earlier again. With all these thoughts about spies and infiltration in his head, he couldn't help himself.

Something felt off about the boy, and Thatch couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to this boy that what met the eye, but not in a bad way…

He felt a connection, a bond, a _special _bond with the brat, even though their meeting had only brief… ah! What the hell was he thinking!? He should be prioritizing his family, not some kid who could potentially be a spy… so why... why was he doing it?

Thatch found himself wondering about that question way more than he intended, and when he finally snapped himself out of his thoughts, he realized he had wandered rather far from where he had first started out.

He had ended up in the very back of the ship, which was further than he usually ventured during the night. Thatch shrugged, not like it would hurt to go and check all the way.

Thatch didn't hurry, and just observed his surroundings. It was no wonder he, or anyone else for that sake, didn't come back here very often. There wasn't really anything to see.

Thatch wondered if he should just turn around and make his way back to the main deck since there likely wasn't gonna be anything of interest back here.

Though right as he was about to do so, something caught his attention. In the very, very back of the ship, a shadowy figure was sitting against the railing.

'Strange…' Thatch thought as he went to inspect the figure. As he got closer, he realized that what had caught his attention was no mere object, no.. it was a _person. _A very specific person at that.

The moment Thatch could make out his characteristics, he knew who it was. He wouldn't forget that face, he had been thinking about it all day! The figure looked to be asleep. Hesitant, Thatch stepped forward.

Only two words managed to make their way out of his mouth.

"It's...you," he muttered. That seemed to wake up, or at least make the boy aware that he was there.

Thatch waited in suspense, waited for the boy's reaction to him. This was his chance, the chance Thatch had waited for. The boy's response could determine this. _Was he a spy or not?_

Thatch was caught up in his deepest thoughts, so as soon as the boy reacted, it caught him completely off guard. Especially the way he did it... The boy _smiled. _

And not fakely or nervously- no! It was a completely honest, legitimate smile. Thatch stared in the boy… he couldn't possibly be a spy… not with a reaction like _that. _

"It's the bread-hair commander!" The boy exclaimed, no sign of fear or hesitation in his voice. More calm now, Thatch stepped closer and placed the lantern he was holding on the floor.

He sat down next to the kid who, again, didn't seem the least bit intrigued or scared by this. Thatch let his guard down a little, but still made sure he was ready to jump into action, should this brat try anything funny.

"It's _Thatch. _Sheesh, that Ace really played a number on me, teaching his subordinates that name…" he uttered, to which the boy giggled, his smile widening.

Thatch couldn't feel scared of this kid, he just _couldn't. _He was too innocent. There wasn't even a single sign of evil in his eyes, his voice, his aura. Nothing, absolutely _nothing _about this kid indicated that he had ever harmed as much as a fly.

"What do you want commander bread- I mean Thatch?" He asked. Thatch glared at him before looking up into the sky.

Tonight was a clear night, all the beautiful stars could be seen and were lighting up the night sky as were they little emeralds shining in the dark. Thatch smiled, relaxed.

"Oh, you know. I have watch duty today, it sucks. Anyway, enough about that, what are _you _doing out here?" Thatch asked.

"Oh! Well, I kind of don't have a room, so I figured I would just sleep a place where I wouldn't bother anyone, Shishishi!" The boy said. Thatch stared amused. This boy had a kind heart, a very kind one at that.

"Well, you're new here, so I suppose it makes sense you wouldn't have a room yet… still, though, this is unusual. This doesn't usually happen… you said earlier that you were looking for Ace, right? You a part of his division?"

"I guess you could say that," the boy replied. Thatch found himself confused by that answer. He _guessed_? What was that supposed to mean? Thatch felt a slight sense of worry creep up in his thoughts. Had he been wrong..?

"What do you mean by that?" Thatch asked, the calm and collected tone from before having disappeared. The boy blinked, several times, and then answered.

"Well, it's because I'm only here 'cause I really need to see him!" The boy answered. Thatch wanted more answers, but before he could ask, the boy interrupted him.

"What's Ace like when he's here anyway?" he asked. Thatch blinked and rubbed his chin before answering.

"Well… he's a bit of a brat, I guess you could say," Thatch started, to which he was met by a confused and curious look.

"He's our little brother, so of course he's a little more immature than the rest of us. He had a rebelling period when we first brought him on board, and he still has a bad temper… plus, that narcolepsy of his made all of us worry at first."..." Still does, sometimes," Thatch said, looking the kid, who looked surprised, in the eyes.

A couple of seconds passed, and Thatch continued.

"That being said though.. the Whitebeard pirates aren't the Whitebeard pirates without Ace. He really cares for all of us, and we really care for him, that much I can tell… that boy is a bit of a mystery, though. He doesn't like to talk about life outside of the time he joined, us, and he gets angry or emotional if you bring up anything about heritage or _real _family," Thatch said.

"So avoid those subjects when you talk with him, kay?" Thatch said. The boy nodded.

"Ace is so mean sometimes, though! Calling me weak and a crybaby… I don't cry anymore, and I could totally beat him if we fought now!" The boy said childishly, stunning Thatch for a couple of seconds. Did he know Ace?

"Sometimes, I feel sad too! After all, he-..." there was an awkward silence…"When he told me he wouldn't die, he started being all mean. I guess he still feels guilty about Sa-" The boy said, but once again didn't finish his sentence.

Thatch was completely and utterly confused. What was he talking about? What had he meant to say in his first sentence? He wouldn't die? Why had he told this kid he wouldn't die? What in the world was the connection between them? And he still felt guilty about Sa-? Who or what was Sa, and what had he meant to say?

Thatch had so many questions and so little answers. Though all of a sudden, a noise snapped him out of his thoughts…

Was that… snoring?

Thatch looked to his side and saw, that the kid had actually fallen asleep, _while they had been talking. _ Thatch could only stare… seriously? They had been talking just fine a minute ago, and all of a sudden he decided to get tired and FALL ASLEEP!?

...It's just like something Ace would do. This kid, he reminded him an awful lot of Ace for some reason…

Thatch couldn't help but smile. Sure, the kid had said some confusing stuff… but he just couldn't resist him right now! He looked adorable being asleep, and he wondered if he was always this much of a kid. If that was the case, then Thatch was looking forward to having the boy stay!

Wait.. the boy? AH! Gosh darn it, he hadn't gotten the kid's name again! How could he forget!? He must've been so caught up by the conversation that he forgot!

Thatch didn't feel like waking him up. He looked peaceful and tired, and the kid deserved some sleep.

'I can't just leave him out here like this… he'll catch a cold!' Thatch thought, seeing as how the boy was only wearing a shirt, which was _not _buttoned up (strangely just like Ace, but he had decided to ditch the shirt after he got his tattoo), a pair of shorts and some straw sandals.

'I don't have enough space in my room… let me think… what am I gonna do..?' Thatch said, as an idea suddenly struck him.

'I'm sure Ace won't mind… it's just one night after all!' Thatch said, turning to the boy. He was careful as he picked him up, piggy-back style. He didn't want to accidentally wake the boy, after all.

He carefully positioned the boy correctly on his back, and stood up, being careful not to make any rash movements.

As soon as he got up, he slowly started to walk in the direction of the commander's quarters. The walk was nice. Done in silence. Thatch could feel the boy's breathing against his back, and he smiled.

It wasn't often that he got to carry his little brothers on his back like this. Once again, the boy looked so peaceful, Thatch didn't want to be the one disturbing that peace. That much was for sure.

The ship was completely deserted, so no one saw them come or enter Ace's room. Thatch carefully laid down the boy in Ace's bed, cautiously putting the bed sheets over him to ensure that the kid wouldn't catch a cold.

"Sleep tight," he ushered, closing the door.

* * *

**The brother chase**

* * *

"Where am I?" Luffy exclaimed. He was in a room he had never seen before. This was _weird, _not only because he was somewhere unfamiliar, but because he couldn't recall ever entering _any _room last night.

Luffy recalled the events of last night. What could he remember?

Well, he had just gotten comfortable on the ship when the bread- hair commander had come and spoken with him… They had talked until fairly late, and then.. then what? Luffy couldn't remember.

Gah! Guess that meant he must've fallen asleep while they were talking. The brea- Thatch, must've taken him here. But where was he?

Luffy observed his surroundings. The room was surprisingly big, about as big as the boys' quarters back at the sunny, though he could only see one bed.

Who ever this room belonged, must've been a person of high standing! There's no way _óne _person would be able to get a room this big all for themselves on a ship having to contain so many people!

Luffy got up from the bed and decided to take a look around. The room was fairly clean and simple, nothing too crazy in the furniture department.

There were empty shelves and closets, a sign that this person was away right now. Considering this was the whitebeard's' ship, probably on a mission somewhere.

Another thing in the room that caught Luffy's attention was the desk. Multiple piles- no _STACKS _of paper stood firmly, balancing, with the risk of falling to the ground being high. Luffy didn't care about stupid paperwork though, but about something else, he did.

A drawer. A drawer in the desk. A drawer in the desk, which had a lock. A drawer in the desk which had a lock, that had not been locked. Luffy couldn't help himself or his curiosity, he had to know what was there!

Luffy pulled out the drawer and gazed at its contents. There were several things...First of all, a big stack of paper.

Letters, to be more exact.

Luffy picked up a letter and looked at it. His eyes widened by doing so.

'Wait a second! This is-! _My _letter!' Luffy thought. He recognized the handwriting, he would anywhere. It was Makino's handwriting, and the letter was one that he had written to Ace a couple of weeks after his departure.

He looked at the remaining letters. His. All of them were _his_ letters, letters he had written to Ace on Dawn Island, during the time he was training and Ace had been sailing.

At one point, he had stopped responding and Luffy had become worried and had almost set out to sea to find him. Though he was only 15, so Makino had managed to stop him with the power of conversing and calming.

Ace had shown up in the newspaper again shortly after, and Luffy had forgotten his worries and went back to training.

But if these were all Ace's letters… then that had to mean… this was Ace's room! Luffy instantly lit up, this was great!

He had found Ace's room! Or well, woken up in Ace's room. How did that happen anyway? Meh, who cared, he was in Ace's room!

Luffy inspected the remaining items in the drawer.

There was a piece of cloth, a red piece of cloth, to be more exact. Luffy picked it up. It took a second, but as soon as that second passed, he remembered why the red piece of cloth felt so familiar..!

The piece of cloth was actually a piece of clothes, a tank top at that. Though, the tank-top was unusually small. But Luffy knew why. He recognized that tank-top from their childhood. Ace had worn it when they were kids, and during the first while after they met. Though Makino had come up with new clothing eventually, and Ace had switched outfits along with Luffy and Sabo.

Just looking at it brought back old memories… Luffy smiled. It still had all the holes and bad stitch-work that it had when they were kids. It wasn't dirty, but the feeling was still there. Man, had Ace really been that small?

Luffy always found that Ace was bigger than him. Looking back at this… it was incredible to think that the older brother had once fit into the obviously too little piece of garment.

Luffy put the shirt back and picked up another item.

A photo. Multiple photos.

Photos of them as kids. All three of them. Makino had come up there with a picture den-den mushi one day, and the boys had messed around with it. Most of the photos were pretty bad, but it looked like Ace had gotten his hand on some of the better ones.

Luffy smiled once again, the memories coming streaming back in large waves of nostalgia. Some of the pictures were in bad shape, so Luffy was careful when he put down the pictures again.

And at last, one item remained.

It was just an ordinary piece of paper. It was roughed up and had a couple of wet spots. Almost like someone had clung onto it and… cried on it?

Confused, Luffy picked up and unfolded the piece of paper. His eyes widened in recognition once he did… carefully, he read what hadn't been blurred out by the wet spots.

"_Ace, Luffy? Did you get hurt in the fire? I'm worried about you, but I know you'll be alright. Unfortunately for you two, by the time you get this letter, I'll already be out at sea. _

_"A lot of stuff happened, but I decided to set sea before you guys."_

"_My destination is anywhere but here. I'm going to become stronger, so I can be a pirate. Pirates are free to sail anywhere, and they're freer than anyone else in the world."_

"_All three of us should become pirates one day! That way, we'll be able to meet again some day, somewhere out there. The ocean is vast and free, so I know we'll meet again some day!"_

"_Another thing. Ace, who do you think is the _real _older brother? It's weird to have two older brothers and one little brother, but the bond we share is my treasure.. Luffy is still weak and a crybaby though…"_

"_Take care of him," _The letter read. Luffy stared at it in awe… It was the letter from Sabo…

Why had Ace kept this?

Something caught Luffy's attention. On the back of one of the photos, one of Sabo at that, something was written. He picked it up.

"Don't forget… August 12th.." Luffy read aloud. And as soon as he did, it struck him why he recognized that date.

"The day Sabo died…" He said, almost whispered as if were no one supposed to hear it. Luffy frowned. Sabo's death had been… still was, this tough for Ace? He had never shown any signs of it being this rough for him.

Luffy put back the items into the drawer and closed it again. Ace's stuff was Ace's stuff after all. He sulked, not really knowing what to say or think...

Silence fell upon the room. Not that Luffy minded it, but it was awfully quiet, except for the sound of someone running towards Ace's room.

…

Wait a second-

The door burst open a second later, almost surprising Luffy, who just glared curiously. It was a familiar face, a _very familiar _face at that. Luffy's face lit up.

"Commander bre-"

"Thank goodness you're safe," the cook exclaimed. Luffy glared, confused.

"Why would I not be safe?" He said, tilting his head to the side and glaring at the commander who just looked at him in distress.

"Come with me, we're going to my room," he said, almost more like _commanded. _Luffy ignored it though, as just gave his usual chipper reply.

"Ooh! Are we going to see your room, Thatch commander!?" He exclaimed, eyes widening and his feeling of excitement rising.

"Just follow me and be quiet. I'll explain once we get there," he said, signaling for Luffy to follow him. Luffy glared confused, before doing so. This guy was usually so happy and positive, why the sudden grim and serious tone in his voice?

Luffy wondered that all the way to his room, which was only a little further down the hall. No one was in sight, but Luffy still felt as though the atmosphere had changed. The air somehow felt more tense, grimmer… Luffy wondered what had happened in order to make things feel like this.

As soon as they reached Thatchs' room, the commander was awfully quick to closing the door. Luffy glared confused.

Thatch sat down on the bed, he did the same.

"What's going on?" Luffy asked. He wasn't worried or scared or anything, but he was really confused about what was going on. Thatch only looked at Luffy, then at the ceiling to his room, looking very confounded.

"Alright. Let me tell you," Thatch said in a tone of utter seriousness.

* * *

**The brother chase**

* * *

"Thatch!"

"Thatch, yoi! Wake up, dammit!"

Thatch growled. What the hell was disturbing his sleep this early? Didn't people know that he had been up all night, God dammit?

Grumpy, Thatch opened his eyes. Whatever person had dared to wake him this early was gonna get it now…

Slowly, Thatch sat up and stared directly into the eyes of another commander. As soon as his morning vision cleared up enough for him to see who it was, his eyes widened and he was suddenly wide awake.

"M-Marco! What are you doing here so early!?" Thatch exclaimed. Marco stared at him with a bored expression before sighing and answering.

"I _came_, because Oyaji wants to talk with you, yoi," the first division commander answered. Thatch blinked several times, and a slightly too long silence fell upon the room.

"Oyaji? Why? Is there a special occasion or something?" Thatch asked.

"Just get out of bed and come along, yoi," Marco said. Thatch didn't know why, but he didn't like Marco's tone of voice. His stomach was giving him an unforgettable feeling.

"Right… I'll be there in a moment," Thatch implied, to which Marco just nodded. Thatch got out of bed and ready during no time whatsoever. As soon as Thatch stepped outside, the sun blinded his already far too tired eyes, and took a couple of seconds to adjust to the bright light.

"You coming, yoi?"

"Yeah.. let's go."

And just like that, the two commanders walked towards Oyaji's office in silence. The silence wasn't awkward, though it wasn't pleasant either…

"We're here," Marco implied. Thatch nodded, and the first division commander grabbed the door handle to their father's room.

"I know," Thatch said, grinning widely.

"I've been here before," he said sarcastically, making Marco smile just a tiny tiny bit. The two commanders then headed inside.

"I brought him, yoi," Marco said. Thatch was surprised as he walked in through the door. Not only was Whitebeard there, but the rest of the division commanders were as well, all looking deadly serious.

"Why the grim faces?" Thatch asked, though he received no reply. Complete silence fell over the dark room, as Whitebeard suddenly turned to him.

"I hear you've been talking with someone lately," he stated. I took a couple of seconds for Thatch to realize what he was talking about. His face lit up in doing so.

"Oh! You mean the kid? I actually ran into him again yesterday, and we talked for a while until he fell asleep and-"

Thatch was interrupted in the middle of his sentence.

"Hold on, you talked again yesterday? What did he say?" Izo asked. Thatch, a little more hesitant because of the seriousness in Izo's voice, answered not long after.

"Well.. nothing in particular. He asked me about Ace. Like, how he was when he was on board. And at one point, he said a bunch of stuff which I didn't really understand. It seemed like he knew Ace though.." Thatch started, though continued on. "Something about Ace talking about dying…" He added.

The commanders looked at each other, and then at Whitebeard. Thatch felt weird as they all stared at him, and decided to break the silence.

"Why do you want to know? Are you worried about him, being new on the crew and all? Because if that's the case then-"

"Thatch," a voice once again interrupted, though this time it was Vista.

"There is no new crew member," he replied seconds later. Thatch visibly flinched as his eyes widened.

_...What?_

"Wait, what do you mean there isn't any new member?" Thatch asked, confusion clearly starting to take the better of him.

"I thought what you said at dinner yesterday was weird, yoi. So I went in to check with Oyaji. We haven't gotten any new members recently, not in quite a while actually," the phoenix indicated.

"Are you implying..?" Thatch said, not finishing his sentence yet again, though this time because he couldn't get himself to do it.

They all nodded.

"There's a spy on our ship. And he wants something with _Ace,_" Jozu said, the anger _very _clear in his voice. Thatch gazed around. The other commanders were visibly upset as well. Whitebeard was probably the worst of them all. A dark shadow covered his eyes, and he hadn't said nor drunken anything during this conversation, both of which he usually did when he was upset.

This couldn't be right... That brat… that _loving, kind _brat from earlier had been a _spy_? No, that didn't feel right. His emotions were legit. Right..? Or had he just been so talented at putting up a font that he had deceived _him, _a commander who had seen through so, _so _many lies before…?

"_Oh! Well, I kind of don't have a room, so I figured I would just sleep in a place I wouldn't bother anyone, Shishishi!" _

..No. The boy's laugh had been legit. And he could hear it in his tone of voice, he was telling the truth. Thatch _knew _it.

"No, that can't be right! He was just a kid! And he-!"

"Thatch, I know this is hard for you, since the boy looks like a kid, but right now, we need commander Thatch of the 4th division, not the kind, loving forgiving older brother Thatch," Marco intimated.

Thatch kept quiet, though stared into the floor. He felt contaminated. What should he do…?

"You wouldn't happen to know where he is, right? Or anything about him at all. Give us some details about his appearance?" Haruta asked.

Thatch stared panicking over what to do. He knew where he was. He had placed the boy in Ace's room yesterday… He could tell them. But if he did, he was sure the boy would be captured and questioned….

His crew looked at him in anticipation. They were requiring answers. And Thatch knew it was the right thing to do. They were his crew- his _goddamn _family for that sake! They deserved, no they had every right in the world to know. And besides, he had only talked to the boy twice, meanwhile, he had spent the last 20 years of his life on this crew. They were by far more trustworthy than the boy. _Right? _

Thatch recalled the soft, loving smile he had seen yesterday when the two of them had talked together… Thatch thought about it… he could tell them.

But then, what would happen to that sweet innocent smile? Thatch felt _guilty _thinking about bailing out the boy in Ace's room. Why was that? "...No. Sorry, I don't. I only talked to him very briefly. I don't even know his name, to be honest," Thatch said.

...Why had he just _lied_? He never lied. Well, never like this. Never when it was something that could possibly endanger the rest of his family...

"Really? As in nothing, _nothing _whatsoever? No details about his appearance? Not you either, Izo?" Namur asked.

Izo put a hand to his chin and thought.

"Well… it was so brief.. and I didn't really think about it… But I guess… he was rather short, and he had a scar under his left… or was it right? Right eye," Izo said.

Thatch mentally sighed at that. It was right. It was definitely his left eye.. though for some reason, he couldn't get himself to correct his brother.

"Alright then... " Marco sighed. "If you're really sure you don't remember anything Thatch, then I guess that's it, yoi," he exclaimed looking at Thatch who nodded slowly.

"Oyaji. It will be better if we keep this secret. We don't want any trust issues after all," Fossa said.

Whitebeard only nodded.

"We will do rounds on the ship, narrowing down our suspects to people fitting the tiny amount of details we have, and who don't have a mark, yoi," Marco said, all remaining commanders except for Thatch nodding in agreement.

"The quicker we start searching, the better. I suggest we start right now," Haruta said. All commanders agreed and got up from their seats, Thatch being the last to stand.

All left the room fairly quickly, leaving only Thatch and Marco standing by the door.

"Thatch, yoi," Marco exclaimed, looking at Thatch who was looking at him disorientated. Marco's voice was serious and firm, and so was his gaze.

"Is there something you're not telling us?" He asked, surprising Thatch, who only just now realized that he had been acting fairly suspicious ever since the fact that the boy was a spy was mentioned.

What was he doing? He was better at acting than this!

"Ah, sorry. It's just, he was so deceiving that I felt confused for a moment…" Thatch said.

Marco glared at him for several seconds before answering. "I know, Thatch. But you have to be careful. These types of people are dangerous, they can make you doubt who your real comrades are, yoi. Just remember, Thatch. No matter what happens, we're your family, he's the spy. You can trust us. You can't trust him," Marco said, almost coldly.

"I'm going to call Ace and inform him of the situation. If we don't catch the spy by the time he comes back, he needs to be prepared, yoi," Marco said, walking off, leaving Thatch alone (well, not really..) on the deck.

* * *

**Marco**

* * *

Marco walked into his room, or as he preferred to call it, his office, 'cause that's what it was.

It was a bit of a mess, but that kind of came along with the whole 'first division commander' line of requirements and duties. And paperwork. God _damn _was there a lot of paperwork. But that came along with the job, Marco had known that ever since he took the title all those years ago.

But damn, it could be a pain in the ass some… most of the time. Especially with people like Ace and Thatch around to always stir up things around the ship. Generally, along with the job came a lot of headaches and sleepless nights. But Marco wouldn't trade his job for anything in the world. He may be stuck on a ship with some of the ocean's biggest idiots, but he loved those idiots more than anything in the world.

That's why he was so God. Damn. Furious. Someone was out there, purposely wanting to hurt or even kill his youngest brother. Marco did intend to find this bastard before he found Ace before he could do even touch as much as a _hair _on his little brother's precious head.

The fury boiled up inside Marco but settled down a little as he walked inside and shut the door, completely isolating himself from the rest of the crew.

He went over to his overly messy desk, and searched for the den-den mushi he knew was there. They had given Ace one so he could call in the case of emergencies, and the other way around.

_This _was an emergency, so Marco was calling.

_Purupurupurupuru….purupuru...puru… _The den-den Mushi dialed for 7 whole seconds before any sound on the other end was heard.

_Gacha. _

"_Hello?" _Sounded the familiar voice on the other end.

"Hello, Ace," Marco implied his voice firm.

"_Do you need anything? I'm gonna return in 4 days you know, so unless it's urgent then I-" _

"Ace, it's very urgent. I need you to listen, yoi," Marco implied earnest, receiving silence on the other end as an answer. A couple of seconds later, the second division commander replied.

"_Go on." _

Marco's eyebrows tensed before he continued.

"Alright, I don't wanna dance around what's going on, so I'll just tell you straight up," the phoenix said, hearing a slight grunt from the other end. He waited a couple of seconds, not many, before talking again.

"Ace, there's a spy on board," Marco said.

"..."

"..."

"_..."_

"_Explain." _Ace said, his voice quickly filling with anger.

"We don't know much, but I'll tell you what we do," Marco said shortly, before continuing a couple of seconds later.

"Basically, a person snuck on board during the last time we docked at an island. Only Thatch, Izo and Vista have actually seen and talked to him, but he was acting weird, yoi. And he was requesting you," Marco said, awaiting an answer.

"_Me? What could he possibly want from me?" _Ace said, his voice just as serious and collected as Marco's.

"We don't exactly know yet, yoi. He said something about you and dying, from what Thatch told us. And apparently, he snuck on board solely to "talk" with _you,_" the commander said. He could both hear and _feel _the fury boiling within the boy the more they spoke.

Ace was clearly very angry, and understandably so. There was some kind of person on board willing to hurt _him. _Who knew if he might try something funny before his target would show up? What if he hurt another family member, what if he hurt Whitebeard?

"_...I'll be there in 2 days,_" Ace suddenly said, catching Marco completely off guard.

"What? Didn't you say it would take another 4 days for you to get back, yoi?" Marco questioned.

"_That doesn't matter. I'm returning as soon as possible. You better keep tight watch until I get back, alright?" _Ace said, to which Marco only replied with a simple, though firm, "Of course."

"_Thanks for telling me, _" Ace said.

"Just be careful when you get back, yoi. We still know too little about this guy to _really _get a good idea of what he's up to, yoi," Marco said.

"_You got it. Take care, Marco. And Oyaji too." _

_GACHA. _

Marco sighed, leaning back into his chair. His brows furrowed, his fists tightened. Whoever the hell had the guts to seriously threaten his family like this, was going to _pay. _He would make sure of that….

Nothing and no one could stand in his way.

* * *

**The brother chase**

* * *

"Wait, so they all think I'm a spy!?" Luffy exclaimed, clearly upset.

"That seems to be the case. Anyway, I don't know what to do from here on out. You can hide out in here. Believe me, fighting against them when they're this angry is _not _a good idea," Thatch said.

Luffy frowned. "Man, all I wanted to do was make a good impression! All I did was screw everything up… Man, Anne… no- Annie? Annia? Ann? Anni? Anna? Anna! Anna would be so mad at me right now!" The boy exclaimed childishly.

Thatch couldn't help but get shivers at that name. He was quite certain they weren't talking about the same person, but a certain red-haired woman had worked on their ship and had beaten, literally _beaten, _fear into the Whitebeard pirates so that they would behave and tell the truth when in her care.

Sometimes, Anna's beatings were even worse than the actual injuries sustained, but she somehow always managed to fix up everyone, even if they were on the brink of death.

"I just wanted to behave nicely around Ace's Nakama... I made everything worse, didn't I?" He asked, catching Thatch off guard.

Had the kid actually been a spy, he would've been scared, or at the very least a little _nervous _by now. The Whitebeards had discovered him and were currently turning over every leaf and plank on the ship to find him.

Though this boy was playing it off like it was no big deal at all. He wasn't shaking, his voice wasn't unsteady, he wasn't sweating. He was just completely calm.

Something Thatch thought, would've been very strange, was the boy actually a spy. 'He can't be… there's no way in hell that he actually has bad intentions against our family…' Thatch thought when a thought suddenly popped into his mind.

"Wait, hold on a second, how exactly do you know Ace? Who _are _you?" The cook asked. The boy looked surprised by the question, though smiled again shortly after, once again surprising Thatch.

"Oh yeah, I guess I didn't tell ya! Shishishishi!" The boy giggled and looked at Thatch.

"I can just tell all of you now anyway, it's not like it's meant to be a secret! Ace is my-!"

All of a sudden, he was interrupted by a very, _very _loud knock on the door. Thatch froze, and all the blood drained from his body.

"Thatch!? Thatch, I know you're in there, yoi! Come out right now!" It was Marco. Had he discovered them?

Thatch could only think one thing in this situation. It looked _bad. _

'_Well, crap,' _the cook thought, innerly panicking.

* * *

**Annnd cut! Chapter two ends here! The chapters I write are rather long, _around 25 pages each, to be exact, _so I hope you all find them readable! I'm gonna give out a small spoiler (but not really) here;**

**There'll be 3 chapters left until we reach something I like to call "The 10 days." That's all I'm gonna mention about it for now, but I have everything planned out. So if you wanna come with recommendations, they're _really _gonna have to peak my interest, considering how much of this story is already planned and typed out.**

**Once again, I hope you enjoyed! Review, follow and favorite to help a struggling author out!**

**-Shadow**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello once again. Thanks to everyone who read, favorited, followed and reviewed my last chapter! I'll answer the 9 rewievs (XD) that I got at the author's note at the bottom :3. **

* * *

**I'll say it again: **

**-2 more chappies left till the "10 days" begin. :O **

**-The next chapter will be out tomorrow**

**-Reviewing, following or favoriting would help show your support an keep me motivated! :)**

**Disclaimer: **_Who would've known, I _still _don't own either the one-piece manga OR the anime. *Sob* *Sob*_

* * *

"Thatch, yoi! Open the door!" Marco's fury filled voice only got louder and louder, and so did the knocking. Wait, no- it couldn't even be considered knocking anymore, this was just straight up door abuse!

Thatch turned to the kid in a cold sweat. Crap did Marco know?!

Panicking, he yelled out the confused kid, who looked awfully calm, considering the situation. What should Thatch do? Should he sell out the kid? Or-

Thatch looked into his eyes… 'Damn it all!' he thought, staring into the unresistable, adorable little orbs that stared straight into his heart.

"Quick, get in the closet and don't get out before I tell you too!" Thatch said, whisper-yelling.

"Wha-!? Why!?" He said, a tad too loudly.

"No time, just get in there!" The commander said, opening the large doors and basically _stuffed _the kid into the half-empty closet. As soon as the doors were semi-closed, Thatch sprinted over to the door, which was basically at the brink of jumping out of its hinges.

He had expected Marco to stop hitting the door as soon as opened it, but he didn't. So as soon as the cook had shown his face, he had greeted by a fist- a _haki _covered fist, right in the face.

Startled, he stumbled back a little, meanwhile, Marco's relentless knocking finally stopped.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!" Thatch said, his face red and aching. It took a couple of seconds for his vision to become clear, and as soon as it did he felt his nose and his teeth. Nothing was broken or bleeding. Good. As soon as the throbbing stopped, he looked up, to be greeted by Marco's… angry? Worried? Speechless? Expression.

"Sorry about that, yoi," Marco said, not being as apologetic as what was required in a situation like that. Thatch bit his lip, finally standing up straight and looking the other commander in the eyes.

"Wh-what's up, Marco?" The cook exclaimed, trying to sound calm. He was clearly anxious, though, and was sweating lightly.

Marco lifted a brow at his comrade, before staring at him with a blank face.

"You don't know?" He simply said. Thatch gulped silently and thought about it… no, he didn't.

"Sorry, can't say I do. Is there a reason you show up at my room yelling and ah- punching with haki? Seriously, if my face hadn't been the one to take the hit, the cost of a new door would've been in your hands," he said, trying to sound more like his usual careless self.

"And sorry about that, by the way," the phoenix added. Thatch blinked.

"Ah well, no harm… no _permanent _harm done," the cook said, his face still throbbing lightly. Marco nodded before talking again.

"Were you talking to someone?" He asked. A chill ran down Thatch's back at that question. Oh crap.

'Alright Thatch, just play it cool, play it cool….' the commander thought to himself.

"No, not really. Ehm, why, did it sound like I was?" Thatch said, slightly hesitant.

Marco leaned forward, clearly glancing around the room in order to search for anything out of the usual. He looked slightly disappointed when he didn't see anything, though only looked at Thatch once more.

"...No, just a weird feeling I got, yoi," Marco answered.

"Anyway," Marco started again, "they have a crisis in the kitchen. That's why I came to get you, yoi," he finished.

Thatch's eyes widened slightly. Was it really this late already? He checked the clock. Yes, in fact, it was. He was supposed to be in the kitchen by now.

Thatch filled up with worry once again, though a different kind of worry this time. Before he could ask, Marco, answered:

"There's a lot, _a lot _of food missing from the kitchen. Either, the food mysteriously vanished, or we have a food thief on our hands… and I think I have a guess as to who, yoi…" Marco said.

Thatch's eyes widened in shock, though he was sure to hide his surprise as soon as he realized what he was doing. Of course, he was talking about the kid… he must've stolen food yesterday because he was too hungry...

Well, at least he knew the kid had eaten something.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Thatch replied.

"Alright, I'm heading down right away," he simply said.

Marco nodded. "You'd better hurry, yoi. Everyone is starting to get hungry, and I don't want to deal with a crew full of hungry pirates… you _do _remember what happened last time, correct?" Marco asked, Thatch, getting a chill.

It had been a nightmare. The kitchen had basically been a take-all-you-can find buffet. People had come storming in dozens- no _hundreds_ at a time. The kitchen had been so destroyed, and so empty afterward, that they had to split up the crew and have them eat at some of their other ships for 2 weeks.

"I better hurry," Thatch said, Marco, nodded strongly in agreement. And as said, Thatch ran, no- sprinted down towards the kitchen.

Marco took one last thorough, suspicious look at Thatch's room. Something felt off to him… he considered searching it.

'No, there's no way Thatch would betray us, not Thatch,' the division commander thought, smirking slightly. And then he closed the door, the same exact door which he had almost smashed to pieces a couple of minutes ago.

Little did he know though, that a small grey orb had been observing the two commanders the entire time.

Luffy turned around. Thatch and the other pineapple guy were gone now, so what was he supposed to do now?

Thatch had told him to stay put until he told him to come out… he wanted to listen too, but man! He did _not _wanna sit and wait in a closet all day!

Luffy frowned. What should he do now? Sit tight and wait? Go back out?

He knew that Thatch had just told him that the rest of the crew thought he was a spy, but he hadn't done and wasn't planning to do anything evil! All he wanted to do was talk with Ace… so why should he be scared of them, if he wasn't gonna do anything bad to them?

Luffy sighed… Actually, now that he thought about it, the thought about telling Ace… made him.. uncomfortable? Anxious?..._Scared?_

Why did he feel _scared _about talking to _Ace_? He had never been scared about Ace, not a second in his life… so then.. what was it that was scaring him this much?

"_Do I know you?" _

Thinking about those words made Luffy's heart ache. Sabo had been really cold, and it had hurt… Luffy had finally gotten to see his long since thought, dead brother, again, and _that _was what he said.

Had… had _Sabo_, his kind, much kinder than Ace, older brother said _that _to him? His eyes had seemed so weird… had it really been the real Sabo?

Had he been wrong..?

Was Sabo really alive? Had it just been a dream, had he just gotten a random stranger to believe he was his long lost brother? Luffy couldn't tell..

Ace was hurt, _so _hurt by Sabo's death. Luffy had felt it all those years ago, even if he had never admitted it. There was always something sad in the back of his eyes.

Over the years, it grew very hard to see, but it was _there. _The trauma of Sabo's death was definitely still _there. _

Luffy had felt it when he had looked into Ace's desk too. Ace never wanted to talk about Sabo, he never wanted to after he died. If the subject _was _somehow brought up, Ace would get mad and either yell or storm off on his own.

'What if he doesn't believe me..?' Luffy thought, curling further up into the ball that he was already kind of sitting in.

'What if he gets mad? What if I give him false hope? What if… what if he won't be my brother anymore?' Luffy thought. He knew he was probably wrong, though all of this got him thinking…

He couldn't stop worrying.. couldn't get the thoughts out of his head.

Suddenly, Luffy didn't feel like heading out and adventuring anymore… no, he would much rather just lie… lie down and not move… maybe take a nap?

Sure, that would do.

Luffy closed his eyes, though he wasn't tired. The seconds passed, the minutes passed, and he just laid, in complete and utter silence.

Tik-tok tik-tok. The only thing that sounded was the clock on the wall. Luffy didn't know how much time, but it certainly felt like forever, before he finally fell asleep and darkness enclosed him.

* * *

**Ace **

* * *

'Damn it!' Ace cursed at himself as a group of navy soldiers rushed past him, weapons and seastone in hand.

'That was too close!' He thought, breathing a sigh of relief as the soldiers finally ran past him and disappeared.

He was hiding in a supply closet, wearing a navy uniform, lipstick smeared over his face, and the word 'idiot' written on his forehead.

Ace sighed once again. How the hell had he gotten himself into this mess?

* * *

**The brother chase**

* * *

It was earlier that day, and Ace was heading towards a navy base on his little, trustworthy boat, the Striker.

Everything was just as it used to be, well, all except for one thing, that is. His usual, cheerful and carefree smile, was replaced by a drawn out, angry frown.

Usually, he was a pretty carefree guy, even on missions. Though on this solo mission, he was serious.

Apparently, a navy base nearby had gathered some important intel on their family, but more importantly, on _him. _

Ace knew of his heritage. It was not like Garp had ever tried to keep it a secret who his father was, though he _had _kept it a secret to the rest of the navy.

Of course, if they ever found out that the _pirate king, Gol D roger, _was his _dad, _he would be one of the most notorious pirates out there…

Of course, more people would come after him, but he didn't care much about that. No, what was important was the fact that more people would be after his _family. _

He wouldn't allow this, he _couldn't _allow this. So far, the only people aware of who his old man was were Marco and Oyaji.

Not that Ace minded that much that the rest of the crew knew, but it was an extremely sensitive subject for him, and he didn't want to talk about it. There was nothing to talk about, so why even bring it up?

Ace had never understood it completely, but he shunned aside the thought for now. What mattered was getting to the base and figuring out what they had on him…

Carefully, Ace spotted the navy base in the distance. This was where boats like Striker really came in handy.

She was small, compared most other ships, so approaching islands such as this one was no problem whatsoever.

He would just sneak around the back, go undercover, and get his information. He had done this many times before, it was basically childsplay at this point.

Especially with a small navy base such as this one. These kinds of bases were usually the easiest to navigate around since there usually wasn't anyone with a rank higher than commander on guard.

So usually, these things would go rather easily. Especially considering the navy was completely and utterly clueless.

Carefully, Ace made his way around the big base, and docked Stricker where he was sure she wouldn't be seen.

'Like beating Luffy at math!' Ace thought, honestly surprised at how easily it went.

'Yosh! Let's get me a disguise!' The brunet thoughts, scouting the area for potential victims.

And that was when he spotted a lone officer walking by, lantern in hand. The poor guy had no clue that he was being observed by a the pirate. An _evil _grin formed on Ace's lips.

Before the officer realized what was happening, Ace got up behind him and hit the pressure point in his neck, knocking him out instantly. After the guy had been stripped down to nothing but his embarrassing pink heart underwear and tied up, he was left behind in place Ace was sure they wouldn't find him straight away.

After he was done with his little makeover, Ace happily stepped out of the shadows and picked up the lantern that the guard had been carrying.

Just as Ace was about to head out in his search for the main office, he heard.. a voice? Whoops, had he blown his cover already?

"Hey! Hey, don't try to get away, you!" the voice said, coming closer. As soon as the figure stepped into the light that Ace was holding, he saw that it was another marine, a woman.

She had fairly long light-green hair set up in a ponytail. She wore the usual "justice" coat, worn by higher-ranked officers. Her eyes were a violet color, and the dress she wore was short, _very short, _and dark green. She wore dark, high heeled boots, and she looked upset.

Ace could only stare speechless. She was pretty, that was for you sure.

"Um, hello!? How long are you gonna keep staring? I've been searching for you all night, Luke!" She exclaimed.

"Eh?" He said. Luke? Did this girl mistake him for being someone else. Wait, if that was the case, then that meant he had an alibi. This could be great, if he didn't mess anything up…

" 'Eh?' Don't, 'eh' me! You've been taught better than that, Luke!" The woman exclaimed, clearly upset. Ace tried his best to put on an act, all while not giggling.

"Yes, of course, ma'am," he said, putting a hand to his chest and another one his back, as was required by all obedient marines. Ace had learned this trick a while ago, though Garp was the first who had wanted him to do it.

"Hm. It's not like you to be so formal.. it's nice, for a change. Come on, let's go join the others," the commander exclaimed, to which only nodded and followed the woman. Not like he had much choice.

He was lead into the base, and he made sure to follow closely, not wanting to get lost in the big building. Ace felt uncomfortable with the way the other navy soldiers were looking at him… almost like they were… envious?

After a couple of minutes spent in silence, the two of them reached two large girls. The woman opened them both and signaled for Ace to follow, which he did.

He was lead into an assembly hall, in which there were already a _lot _of marines gathered, people of all rankings alike.

Ace stared curious at his surroundings. 'I wonder what's going to happen now… seems like it'll be big,' Ace thought.

"Attention, everyone," sounded a voice over a den-den mushi not too long after. Ace looked up to see what looked to be the commander of the base speak, a very serious look on his face.

"I have important news for everyone, so listen up closely," he said, a dark shadow falling before his eyes.

'Well, this oughta be something…' Ace thought, his own brows furrowing slightly.

A stifling silence fell upon the room, before the commander once again spoke up. As soon as he did, his eyes filled with something...different.

"Some idiot thought it would be a good idea to go mess up our food supply, so no curry, and no seagull carrots for anyone tonight!" He yelled out.

"NO!"

"WHO THE HELL IS THE BASTARD!?"

"WHO DID IT!?"

"REVEAL YOURSELF!"

The crowd only started working itself up more and more, meanwhile Ace stood dumbfounded. These soldiers were _this _worked up over some _curry_?

"BWAHAHA!" He couldn't help but laugh out loud. Bad idea.

All the surrounding navy soldiers stopped rioting and turned their attention toward him. And Ace couldn't stop himself, he couldn't stop laughing!

Eventually the entire hall was completely quiet, all staring at him with glares that could kill. Ace still couldn't stop…

His laughing slowly started dying down, tears having already appeared in his eyes. His stomach was cramping, and he had lost almost all air from his lunges.

As he finally grew silent, he knew something horrible was awaiting him… as he got his breath back, he felt all the anger around him.

'Uh oh….' was all Ace could think. He gulped.

"SO THIS IS THE BASTARD WHO RUINED OUR CURRY NIGHT!"

"EVERYONE, LET'S SHOW HIM THE TRUE HORROR OF G-24!"

"YEAH!" All the soldiers roared out at once.

'I'm getting a bad feeling about this!' Ace thought, but he was surrounded so there was nothing he could do.

6 soldiers quickly pinned the surprised Ace to the ground, as another one leaned over him.

"What are you gonna-!" Ace said, but then he realized what was happening. The guy had a marker, a _permanent _marker in his hand. Ace felt his face drain with colour.

"No, don't do it, please! Anything but that!" Ace begged, but none of the cruel soldiers listened.

Before he had a chance to do anything, he felt the marker press against his skin, and as soon as the marker was lifted, the other soldiers let go of him.

"BWAHAHA! SUITS YOU RIGHT, IDIOT!" A soldier began laughing, starting the domino effect. The rest of the soldiers were laughing, laughing as they probably hadn't done in a long time, and they didn't stop. It was their turn to laugh now.!

Ace's cheeks flushed. Even though they were navy soldiers, not knowing what was written on his forehead.

"O-oi! Stop laughing! Oi! At least let me see what he wrote!" Ace exclaimed, which he was handed a mirror.

Ace spelled out the backwards letters written on his head.

"I-D-I-O-T…" He said. Realisation hit him. God damn it! There was no way he was getting this off before heading back to the Moby Dick! Everyone would see it! Unless… he covered it? he had always considered getting bangs… Aurgh! What was he thinking!?

"Alright, boys and girls, enough messing around. Back to your duties at once!" Sounded the voice from before.

"Yessir…" the officers replied, sounding slightly disappointed sounding. If you heard closely, you would be able to hear a giggle here and there. Ace sighed. 'That could've gone worse… but still,' the boy rubbed his forehead as if expecting the marker to come off...

'Yeah right, wish I was that lucky…'

"Officer Luke! Officer Luke!" Sounded a distant voice. As soon as Ace's ears caught the sound, he turned to the direction it was coming from.

His eyes caught sight of the same person from before, the commander. He looked slightly annoyed, though he wasn't mad.

"I expected better from you. Do better in the future!" He said, Ace to stummed to reply straight away.

"Y-yessir!" He uttered a couple of seconds later.

The man walked away, not casting as much as a second glance upon Ace, clearly not caring much. After all, he was just _a low ranking navy soldier who was naive and craving attention… _

Ace smiled, not being able to hold in a giggle. If only he knew, if only he knew…

Ace looked around, and noticed that most soldiers seemed to be headed back to the respected rooms to sleep. Ace scratched the back of his head. Great, what now? Should he search for the main office?

Sure, good idea. Most people would be asleep now anywa-!

"Hey, Luke!" Called a familiar female voice. Ace recognized it as the woman from before-... he hadn't gotten her name, was coming towards him.

"What the hell was that about?" She asked, clearly mad. Ace's mind went blank for a second. Oh right, he knew this girl…

"Oh, ah, it was nothing.. erhm, how about we talk about something else?" Ace suggested. The girl sighed.

"Geez, you're helpless, Luke. Come, let's head back to your room. There's something I wanna talk to you about" the girl exclaimed. Ace simply nodded, and the two of them made their way back to "his room."

Once again, this walk was done in silence. But Ace didn't mind. He would much rather walk in silence then try to sound convincing as this guy, Luke, in a conversation.

Finally, once walking down a normal hall, they stopped in front of a door which seemed no different from all of the other doors in the hall.

The girl grabbed the door handle, and pulled it, opening the door to reveal a dark room with a bed, closet, desk aaaand… not much else.

Ace was actually kind of relieved. Now he could just avoid contact with anyone else, and then do what he _actually _came here to do.

"Phew, thanks for-" Ace uttered, though didn't get to finish.

"Why are you so strange today, _babe_?"

Ace's mind went blank for a couple of seconds, and he blinked.

"Eh?" was all he could utter. _Babe_? Where in the world had _that _come from? Were they...dating? The thought made Ace's cheeks flush lightly… he was getting a bad feeling about this...

"I mean, seriously! It's not like you!" The girl said, stepping closer. Ace stepped back again out of reflex, obviously startling the girl.

"What are you doing? This is unusual. Here, maybe I need something to set the mood, is that it?" She asked.

Before Ace could ask what she even meant by that, he felt the girl wrap her arms around him, and…. _Kiss _him.

And not only did she.. *cough* *cough* _kiss _*cough* him, but she didn't stop! Her otherwise pretty lipstick was getting all smeared out on the stolen uniform.

Ace's cheeks _FLUSHED, _and he was unable to move or say anything. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before while on a mission…

"W-w-w-w-w-wait a second! I think-" Ace uttered, about to explain the misunderstanding. Though he and the girl were interrupted, when the door suddenly _BURST _open, and a guy, panting heavily, was revealed.

The room was dark, so it took a couple of seconds for Ace to realize who it was… but when he did, the blood drained from his face.

'Uh oh…' he thought, but it was too late to change anything about it now…

"YOU!" The guy yelled out, still out of breath. Ace recognized him. Well, how could he not? After all, it was the guy who he had stripped down and tied up… wait… had he tied him up? Ace forgot… oh well, nothing to change about that now.

"You bastard! You think that by disguising yourself as me, you can get to have fun with my girlfriend!?" He yelled out.

"Huh? What're you talking about? What's going on here?" The girl looked utterly and completely confused. She glanced first at Ace, and then at what he presumed to be the real Luke, her _real _boyfriend, and then at Ace again.

Ace sighed. This had gone on for long enough.

"Sorry to have fooled you, I'm not Luke," he said, beginning to unbutton his shirt.

"Huh..?" She said, realization slowly starting to flow over her face. Ace turned around and lowered the shirt he had just enough to see the tattoo on his back.

"Portgas D. Ace, second division commander of the Whitebeard pirates at your service. Sorry for the misunderstanding," the pirate said.

Complete silence fell upon the room….

"UUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The girl yelled, no _screamed _it. It was loud and high-pitched. So high pitched in fact, that both Ace and Luke had to cover their ears.

The scream was heard all over the base, and all of the soldiers whose ears weren't too sore ran towards their room as quickly as they could.

"M-ma'am!? What's wrong!?"

The girl turned to him, her face flustered and her eyes _furious. _"Th-this man! ARREST HIM! He's a pirate, he tried to take advantage of me!" She exclaimed, clearly flustered.

"WHAAT!?" The soldiers yelled out, all eyes falling upon Ace, who could only gulp and think _one _thing.

Before any of them reacted, Ace sprinted past all of them, and into the empty halls, wanting to escape.

"It was nice meeting ya, but I think it's around time for me to get out of here!" The whitebeard pirate exclaimed, not stopping.

All the navy soldiers stared dumbfounded before a furious voice shouted at them.

"What are you idiots doing!? After him!" She yelled. Another 3 seconds or so passed by before the soldiers reacted.

"Y-yes ma'am! Capture the intruder immediately!" An officer yelled out, as he began running, most of the troops following closely behind him shortly after.

"S-sir! The pirate from before introduced himself! It would appear, that _Fire-fist Ace, _is the person we're searching for!" The half naked officer exclaimed.

"A whitebeard!? He must be here for information! Men, we must find him! For the navy's sake!" A guard yelled out, though the crowd stayed mostly quiet.

"...And because he dared try to seduce our beloved commander Morgan!" He exclaimed. _This _seemed to be the motivation that the soldiers needed, 'cause all of them began roaring and running double speed.

Ace looked back and rolled his eyes. 'What a bunch of idiots…' he thought, his heart pounding a little at the mention of what had happened….

Ace had outrun the soldiers a little after and had jumped into a closet to avoid capture.

* * *

**The brother chase**

* * *

Ace sighed out loud. What a mess he had caused, and all just for some papers…

'Oh well, something like this was bound to happen eventually anyway…' the commander thought, peeking out of the closet to check if the coast was clear. 'There doesn't seem to be anyone around..' he thought after doing so.

'Yosh! Let's find this office and get it over with,' he thought, slowly opening the doors, and jumping out silently.

Now, all he had to do was find the office!

...Where was it again…?

Aw, crap.

* * *

**Teach**

* * *

The room was dark.

Windows were covered, lights were off, and almost all was silent. The only thing that could be seen or heard was the small lantern sitting at the desk, along with the sound of a pen gliding across paper.

The man, Teach, was plotting.

And not some kind of plan for his next mission as a member of the second division. No-.

Tonight…

Tonight, there wouldn't be any loudmouthed partying, any loud singing or dancing or cheering… tonight, the crew wouldn't scream of joy… tonight… there would be _murder. _

Teach had finally spotted it. After so, so, so, so, _so _many years of searching, so many years of just laying low in the shadows, his chance was finally here. The Yami-Yami no mi, the most powerful devil fruit in existence.

The fruit, the _one _object that would help him achieve his goals. Turn in straw hat Luffy and become a warlord, and from there on out, work the way up the ladder and become a yonko. _Kill _Red-hair shanks, find the one piece, and achieve the title of pirate king, and world domination along with it…

Yes.. it was the perfect setup, one he had been working on for basically all of his life.

And what was even better, was the idiot who had snuck on board. He had all the division commanders and Whitebeard himself busy, no one would suspect him to strike. It was perfect. Teach made a mental note to thank whoever had given him this oh so perfect opportunity later, when he was out of here.

If he was still alive after what he had planned, that was.

Now, Teach held nothing against Thatch personally, but he was merely in the way. A sorry sacrifice for his plan of world domination. After all, he was the person who held the Yami-Yami no mi.

He wanted that fruit, he would _get _that fruit.

Nothing and _no one _could stop him…

"Zehahahaha…" Teach grinned quietly, finishing up the last of his notes.

He had it all written down, all planned out. Now all that was left to do was to put his plan into action, to finally, _finally _be able to get away and stop pretending.

Tonight, at 1 AM, the fourth division commander would no longer be alive.

* * *

**Whitebeard**

* * *

A soft knock came at the door of the captain. Not unusual, but he wasn't in the best mood right now. Not in a bad mood, but definitely not in a good one either.

Cursing lightly and setting down the large sake-bottle he had been consuming for the past 20 minutes or so, he turned to the door.

"Come in," he uttered quietly, though loudly enough to be heard on the other side. Whitebeard was expecting a division commander, an update or something, but was surprised when another of his beloved sons walked inside.

"Teach? What are you doing here?" Whitebeard asked, his voice softening. Teach smiled his usual grin, before glancing up at his soon to be, ex-captain.

"Zehahaha. I was hoping you weren't too busy to talk, Oyaji," the man exclaimed.

"Of course not. I am never too busy to talk with any of you, my son," the big softly exclaimed. He glanced down at the chair next to his bed.

"Take a seat," he said, welcomingly. Teach did as such, the smile not fading from his face for as much as a second. Silence passed by the two for 3 seconds or so, before Teach spoke up.

"Oyaji, I was hoping to talk… I know we're not supposed to know about the spy on board, but I overheard commander Vista and Izo talking about it… and now that I know, there's something I think you should know," Teach began.

Whitebeard listened closely. Did his son know something? Whitebeard got an unfamiliar feeling in his gut, unsure if it was bad or good... He chose to ignore the feeling for now and continued to listen at his son's words.

"Go on.." Whitebeard said, Teach nodding not long after.

"Yesterday, around 1 AM, I went out to get something from the kitchen, me being a late-night eater and all," He started.

Whitebeard nodded. That was, in fact, true, he knew as much. He had a bad habit of spoiling his sons, should they ever come and ask nicely or beg for something. Teach had many times asked the giant if it was alright if he took a late night snack, and Whitebeard had found it impossible to refuse.

He could live the complaints coming from the kitchen about food 'suddenly vanishing', Teach was happy and that was what mattered.

Anyway, Whitebeard found himself snapping back to reality after being caught up in thought for a little. He listened closely to what Teach told him next.

"While I was there, someone else had already dug into the food in the fridges, and was eating…" he began. He held a natural pause, neither Whitebeard or Teach saying a word.

He continued," I was going to greet him, but I realized shortly after that it was someone I didn't recognize…

"He fit the description I heard later perfectly," Teach simply said, making Whitebeard's eyes widen. So it _was _the spy-kid who had stolen nearly all of their food last night.

Whitebeard felt the anger start to boil out of reflex, and looked at his elder son.

"And so?" He questioned, his tone of voice getting a bit harsher. Though his anger wasn't directed at Teach, but the person he was talking about.

Teach didn't seem affected, and simply continued exactly in the same tone of voice as before, though the expression on his face had also gotten more serious…

"I thought he looked weird, so I hesitated before I went in… and then, suddenly, he started speaking… he has _plans,_" Teach said, nothing but utter seriousness in his voice.

"...What _plans_?" Whitebeard found himself asking, already knowing what to expect. Teach simply looked at Whitebeard, as if _doubting _if he should tell him or not.

Whitebeard looked at him. He recognized that look. It was the look his sons gave him, when they were holding back something important…

"You can tell me. My anger will never be because of you," Whitebeard reassured. Teach nodded quickly and firmly right after.

'If only you knew, old man…. zehahaha,' the fat man thought.

"Alright… I'll tell you," Teach said, his back straightening. He stared straight into his "father's" eyes. A dark shadow fell upon his eyes.

Whitebeard braced himself for the worst…

Or at least, he _thought _he did…

"_Tonight, he will kill commander Marco." _

* * *

**Luffy**

* * *

Luffy awoke to a light knocking on the wall. Wait, wall?

Confused, the boy opened his eyes and tumbled awake, only to realize that he was lying in a giant box… no, a closet.

Luffy's tired brain took a couple of seconds to process everything that had happened. Oh, right! This was _Thatch's _closet, he had hidden here when Thatch had gone out!

"Hey! Hey, kid!" Came a familiar voice from the other side. It was quiet. He was whispering, though whispering as loudly as possible.

A grin spread on Luffy's face, as he slightly opened the doors, only to be greeted by Thatch's friendly face. His grin widened even wider in doing so.

"Thatch-guy!" He exclaimed.

"Wha- where are you getting these names from!? My name is _Thatch, _get it right!" He claimed, to which Luffy just giggled.

"Anyway, sorry I left you in there for so long. It must've been uncomfortable, being cramped and having no proper mattress and all," Thatch said, as Luffy got out and stretched.

"Eh, it was fine! I've slept in worse, Shishishishi!" Thatch was left wondering why the boy had said that. He had slept in worse? He _was_ just a normal kid, right?

Why would he sleep in something worse than a closet..? Thatch wondered, but stopped thinking about it shortly after.

"Anyway… I can't believe I haven't asked, but, what's your name? I can't keep calling you 'kid' forever," Thatch said. Luffy blinked twice. And then he did it again. And just once more for good measure.

"I didn't tell you?" He asked, to which Thatch could only shake his head.

"Oh! Well, in that case, the name's Luffy, Shishishi!" Luffy said with a short pause, " It's nice to me- No wait, I can't say meet since I already know you… hmm… Nice to be introduced to you, Catch!"

Thatch didn't even bother correcting the mispronunciation of his name and simply smiled.

"Luffy, huh…" he said, "sounds strangely familiar," he said a second later. And it truly did… it wasn't a name he knew, that much was for sure. But he felt as if he had heard it somewhere before… maybe a crewmember had mentioned it? No, why would they mention some kid?

Thatch really didn't know and just shoved the feeling of familiarness aside for now, and reached into the bag he had brought with him.

"Anyways, I managed to sneak you some dinner. You must be hungry, right?" The cook asked, to which Luffy's eyes turned to literal stars.

"FOOOD!" The kid said, looking happier than Thatch had ever seen him.

'He must love food… heh, guess Ace isn't the only one after all,' The cook thought, handing the bag to Luffy, who _happily _accepted.

Thatch sat down on the bed, Luffy seemingly having no problem with sitting on the floor. What took his attention was the bag of food in his hand.

Thatch had managed to sneak out a lot, and the kid seemed to have noticed that.

"Thanks for the food!" He said, before beginning to scarve food down into his stomach as was there no tomorrow.

Thatch could only stare in awe. This was truly a sight to withhold! A 17-year-old kid… eating just as much as their nitpick of a brother, Ace!

Thatch watched in silence, as the teen ate more and more food, his pace not slowing one bit in the slightest.

"You're really something, you know that?" Thatch asked, to which he only received a confused stare, as the kid had his mouth to full with food to really say anything without spitting it out everywhere.

As Luffy finished the last piece of bread, he sighed a sigh of satisfaction and rubbed his belly lightly.

"Ahhh! That was delicious! Thanks, Thatch-old-guy!" Thatch facepalmed at that.

"Wha-old!? I am _not _old! I'm only 43, that's not _old_!"

"Shishishishi, yes it is! After all, you're-!" A firm knock was heard on the door.

"Thatch? You in there?" It was the voice of Izo. Thatch and Luffy froze for a moment but quickly sprung into action at the sound of the commander's voice.

"_Get in the closet!"_ Thatch said as quietly as possible, Luffy understanding the message at once. He lept into the large closet as quickly and silently as possible, and Thatch closed the door behind him.

Sighing a quiet sigh of relief, he went to the door.

Truly enough, on the other side stood the kimono-wearing 16th division commander…. though something was off.

"Izo? What's wrong? Why the grim face?" Thatch asked, clearly confused.

"Thatch, we just got new intel on the spy," Izo said, calmly, though clearly upset.

"New intel?" Thatch asked.

'That's weird… Luffy hasn't left his room all day… unless he snuck out?' Thatch wondered.

"What does the intel say?" Thatch asked.

Luffy leaned his ear a little closer to the closet door. He would like to hear what they thought about him. After all, he hadn't done anything wrong, had he?

"Thatch," Izo said. Thatch gulped.

"The spy wants to assassinate Marco. _Tonight_," Izo said.

"He _WHAT!?_" Thatch exclaimed.

'I _WHAT!?' _Luffy thought, almost simultaneously.

* * *

**Whitebeard**

* * *

"I'm _what, _yoi?" Marco asked, utterly confused by the statement just made by his father.

"You heard me, Marco. Teach overheard the spy yesterday. He wants to assassinate you, and he wants to do it in a couple of hours," Whitebeard said, hiding his rage, though it could be heard if your ear was well-trained enough.

"But why me, yoi? I thought the spy was here to harm Ace, not me," the first division commander stated. Whitebeard nodded.

"We still do not know his goals. Though this kind of thing is always unclear when it comes to spies… they're unpredictable," Whitebeard said, to which Marco could only nod. He knew he was right. He had seen too many examples to deny it…

"Is that why the rest of the commanders are gonna watch over me?"

Whitebeard nodded yet again before answering, "Yes, I will arrange it so you are never completely alone throughout the night," Whitebeard said.

"You _do _know I can take care of myself, right, Oyaji?" Marco asked.

"Yes, you are one of, if not _the _strongest fighter I have recruited on this ship. I know you are more than capable, but I do not want to take risks when it comes to a thing as important as my children's lives," Whitebeard said.

Marco saw nothing but true determination and care in his eyes. Oyaji really did care for him, he could _feel _it. Had it been any other situation, Marco would've at least commented on how big of a pain in the ass this was going to be, but not tonight.

"Alright, yoi. I'll be prepared," the first division commander spoke, to which Whitebeard nodded.

"Good. Take care, my son. Be careful."

"You too, Oyaji," Marco said, and with that, he left the office to go recollect his thoughts.

* * *

**Thatch**

* * *

"So you see, that's why I need you to come with me now. Your shift starts now, 10 pm, and ends in 3 hours, at 1 AM. After that, you are expected to go to sleep, but only once the next commander arrives, alright?" Izo states.

Thatch could only stare in shock, this he had _not _expected. Was Luffy really planning to assassinate Marco…?

…

No way!

'He came because he wanted to talk with Ace, so he would have no reason to harm anyone!' Thatch thought, determined.

"Thatch?" Came Izo's firm voice. Thatch's glare had also turned more serious, though surely for a different reason than Izo.

"Lead the way," he said, and Izo nodded. The two left, and shut the door behind them. As they did, a massive sigh was released from a certain someone's mouth.

'I'm going to kill the pineapple-head guy!? No! This is Ace's crew, I _can't _hurt any of them!' Luffy was left feeling confused and anxious. What was he supposed to do? He _didn't _plan on going to the first division commander's room!

No, In fact, he didn't want to leave the closet at all!

He was going to do as Thatch had told him!

'What do I do? What do I do!?' Luffy thought, innerly panicking. Never had he felt as confused as he did now… how had everything come to this?

'I guess all there's left to do is wait… wait for Thatch-y to return and ask what is going on…' Luffy thought.

And so he waited. And waited. And _waited. _

Seconds felt as minutes, minutes felt like hours. Luffy bit his nails, ruffled around uncomfortably, and mumbled to himself. All kinds of thoughts were going through his head, but none of which were answers! He needed answers!

He could always leave the closet, but he had no interest in doing that whatsoever. Thatch told him to stay, so he was planning to _STAY! _

Eventually, the thinking became too much for Luffy. He felt worn out, tired…

'No..! Don't… fall.. asleep…" But too late. The teenager's mind slipped into the state of unconsciousness, and he fell asleep.

* * *

**The brother chase**

* * *

Luffy awoke, awoke by another sound. His brain was tired, 'cause man, he had slept a lot. But it managed to register what the noise he was hearing was.

'_The door..' _Luffy thought, and he instantly felt more awake.

'That must mean Thatch-kay is back!' Luffy thought as he sat up. Right as he was about to put his hands on the doors and push them open, something made him stop… a gut feeling?

Something felt… odd… _unusually odd.._

Luffy stopped himself. 'Let's check, just to make sure…'

And with that, the small boy put his face up against the door. He peeked out through the small crevice that went through the middle, separating the two closet door. He widened his ears, listening and following every sound that was made very closely..

'Footsteps…' he thought. The floorboards were creaking slightly, and the sound of shoes hitting the floor could be heard if you listened closely.

'Something's off… these footsteps sound heavier than Thatch-y-bro's….' Luffy thought, his stomach twisting. Why did he feel so odd?

It was hard to really see anything in the dark, but Luffy squinted his eyes together, trying his hardest to see the figure walking in the dark... He could make out the silhouette… it was large… _very _large...

One thing was for sure. The person who had just walked into this room was _not _Thatch. Luffy listened closely again and heard the snoring coming from the direction of the bed. _Thatch was asleep_. Someone else had snuck in here. _But why?_

Luffy kept his eyes on the large silhouette, looking for anything out of place… he was getting a _bad _feeling.

He positioned himself in such a way, that he would be able to _jump _out of the closet at a moment's notice.

Suddenly, something happened. Luffy widened his eyes at what he saw..

The man pulled something out….

That _something_ was shiny…

That something had a handle, and was elongated…

That something, was something sharp…

All of a sudden, it hit Luffy what the object was.

_It was a knife. _

The dark silhouette lifted his arm up, just above where the sleeping Thatch was. Luffy felt boiling anger and adrenaline pump into his veins.

He _knew _what was about to go down.

Just as the silhouette was about to strike, Luffy pumped his legs and accelerated his blood flow. Steam started rising from his body. This action was audible enough for the silhouette to hear.

Luffy knew that, so he as quickly as he could, _leaped_ onto the figure, and right into where he knew the silhouette was.

As he did so, he made contact with a body. It was a man, very clearly a man. The man exhaled a scream of surprise, and probably also pain, as Luffy sent them both flying through the next 4 walls, and out onto the main deck.

The man dropped his knife in the process, but Luffy didn't care. He. Was. _Furious. _

The moon lit up the deck enough for Luffy to see the man's face closely, but he was seeing red. Features didn't matter. Kicking this guy's _ass, _was what did.

Luffy grabbed onto the surprised man and stared directly into his eyes.

"Wh-who are you!?" he exclaimed, but Luffy didn't reply.

"Gomu Gomu no…," Luffy said, his voice deep of rage. The man seemed to be understanding what was happening…

"Wait a second, YOU'RE-!"

"_**PISTOL!" **_Luffy yelled- no screamed, as he forced his fist into the man's gut as hard as he could. He gave it his all. This man- this _bastard, _would have _killed _Thatch.

"UAAAH-!" The man was sent flying, and crashed into a mast, making him lose all air, and make dark, red liquid spewer out of his mouth.

He laid on the ground, barely conscious as Luffy walked over to him once again, more and more fury boiling his steaming body by the second.

Luffy walked over to the man, multiple veins showing on his forehead, and a dark shadow covering his entire face. The man didn't have enough strength left to fight back or stand up, so he could only lie still and listen to what Luffy had to say.

The small pirate captain walked over to the man and grabbed him by the collar. Something thought unusual, considering their difference in size, but Luffy lifted the man up as was he nothing but air.

"You _bastard. _You were going to _kill a crewmate, _WEREN'T YOU!?" Luffy exclaimed, _barely _resisting the urge to punch this guy again.

"I….I…" Was all he could utter between gasps for air and coughing. Luffy didn't care, he didn't care that he had _hurt _one of Ace's Nakama. This guy, this guy didn't _deserve _to be Ace's Nakama.

Just as Luffy was about to talk again, he heard footsteps. Loud, quick footsteps.

Someone was running towards them.

Surprised, Luffy turned to see who it was. Though everything happened so fast, that he didn't even understand what was happening. There were footsteps, a glint of blue and yellow, a _strong _force crashing into him, his sight went blurry, and he felt another person holding him against the wall.

Luffy opened his eyes, though the person holding him was holding onto his chest so tightly, that he lost all air and oxygen going to his brain.

He saw blurry, but he could make out a man with a weirdly shaped head, a purple jacket, and a face of _fury. _

"_JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO MY BROTHER, YOU BASTARD!?"_

* * *

**MUAHAHAHAHA! Ending it on another cliffhanger here :) You'll just have to wait for tomorrow if you wanna see what happens next. **

**As mentioned earlier, I will be addressing the 9 reviews (XD) that I have gotten;**

* * *

**(First Guest to review): HAHAHAHA! Yes, we can only hope! This is Luffy after all! **

**JustCallMeCookie: Heya sis! And I know you're gonna keep pressuring me XD. You love this story way too much to allow me to give up... **

**Alienfromuniquespace: Oh, is that so? It did slip my mind to make it like that, but I decided that instead, I would have-! Oh, wait.. that would be a spoiler XD. You'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out. **

**Sakurakoi: Wow indeed XD**

**SarahPrincess: You should! It's gonna be _really _interesting :)**

**CiiBii Chan: Thank you! Here it is**

**MyLove4Hetalia: I know right! He is so _cuuuute! _Thus why he's one of my faves to write about. And I keep updating this fast because the chapters are already written! When we get to "The 10 days," it will most likely switch to weekly updates instead of daily. But I certainly hope you don't mind! And thanks again! :D**

**Maru33: Well, here you go. Good to know you find it interesting :)**

**(The last Guest to have reviewed): I know, I'm horrible, aren't I? I'm ending it on an even worse cliffhanger this time XD **


	4. Chapter 4

**And, I'm back again! Sorry if I made you wait. (Nervous sweatdrop). Anyway, a new chapter is out, like many requested. I'll give my answer to more reviews at the bottom -. Enjoy the chappie!**

**A review, follow or favorite would be greatly appreciated!**

* * *

When Thatch had gone to bed the previous night, after his shift of watching over Marco, he hadn't expected much to happen.

He had thought about it for a while, but had wounded up at the decision that Luffy wasn't gonna harm anyone. His suspicions had been further confirmed when he had returned back to his room, only to find Luffy asleep.

And he had to admit, the sight was quite adorable. It reminded him of the fact this he was indeed a big brother.. a loving one at that.

Yes, you heard right. Thatch had come to think of the kid as his newest baby brother. The connection between them was simply so strong, and had developed so much over a short amount of time, that Thatch had already come to think of Luffy as family.

That's why he was sure. He was sure that the news about him wanting to assassinate Marco were false.

The kid was way too innocent, too loving. Thatch wasn't certain, but he felt that the kid hadn't killed anyone before… he simply didn't have that vibe of 'murderous person that will harm others without a second thought' aura going for him.

The hours with Marco had passed swiftly, and Marco hadn't seemed particularly worried either. Simply just… mad? Though he did a good job of hiding it.

That's how he had always been, Marco. He did a good job hiding most of his emotions behind that bored face of his. Much like Oyaji, who didn't showcase many emotions either. Though they both had the same thing in common about this, there was usually a way to tell how they were feeling.

1\. You could either hear it by their tone of voice, or 2. you would just simply _know. _The second option was mostly for when either of them would be mad, no- infuriated.

Oyaji and Marco didn't get _seriously _mad often. Almost certainly the only thing that ever possessed them to get so utterly furious, would be if a member of their family was harmed or in danger in some kind of way.

Though that didn't happen often, considering not many were stupid enough to pick with the Whitebeard pirates, one of the most feared names across the 6 seas.

Not many dared pick on them, except for the reckless marines who thought attacking would be a good idea, and the idiotic rookies who challenged Whitebeard, thinking they could take his head. Yeah right, as if that was ever going to happen.

Though this was quite a pain in the ass sometimes, many of their brothers had actually been recruited this way. Their second division commander, Portgas D. Ace himself, was a brilliant example of this.

He had had a rebellious phase at one point, though had gotten over it and joined up at last. And now, he was the adorable, hot-headed, narcoleptic, somewhat pain in the ass, though still very lovable and kind little brother.

Thatch adored him, and found him childish at times. And now, he had found an individual even _more _adorable and childish, who also happened to be a little brother! How lucky could he get, being surrounded by family which he loved so dearly?

All of this had been on Thatch's mind as he went to bed.

Nothing in particular was supposed to happen. He just wanted to go to sleep, wake up, and have the rest of the crew discover that their so called "spy" had not just attempted to murder their first division commander.

He couldn't wait for the rest of his family to see Luffy like he did, for them to accept him. Even though many rumors were flying around, Thatch knew they were nothing more than that. Rumors.

The kid had come because he had something important he needed to discuss with Ace, nothing more. He wasn't planning on hurting anyone, he never had…

Or so he had thought…

Thatch awoke, surprised.

It wasn't the usual morning sun, instinct, or even Marco that had awoken him… No, in fact, it was a sound he was familiar with, but did _not _expect to be the thing to wake him from his sleep.

It was the sound of an an object crashing through wood, of walls being splintered and destroyed, of flesh hitting against a wall. A sound which he had gotten highly used to during Ace's rebellious phase, though why did he hear that sound _now_?

Not only was the sound itself extremely unusual, but something else had really unnerved him.

_The volume. _

The crash had been so incredibly loud, Thatch felt that it couldn't have been further than a few feet away.

Instantly as this sound was heard, the cook had jacked awake, and he had practically shot out of bed. His eyes were blurry, and he was unable to see, but he could _hear _something coming from not very far away, and it sounded _bad. _

Instictly, the cook reached towards the lantern he knew stood on his bedside table and turned it on. Light instantly flooded the dark room, and Thatch stared in shock at the sight.

The wall opposite his closet had been _completely _obliterated, leaving a huge gap in the middle. Not only his room was affected, the hole went all the way out to the main deck!

Thatch was utterly confused. What had happened?

Not only was there a gaping hole in his wall, but his closet doors stood _open _and _empty. _Where was Luffy? What was going on?

"Thatch!" A familiar voice snapped him out of his mindset. Thatch turned to the direction of the voice, immediately recognizing the face.

"Izo!" He exclaimed. What was going on? Why was Izo here? And most importantly, why was there a ginormous hole in his wall!?

"What the hell is going on!?" He exclaimed, confusion plastered all over his voice.

"It's complicated… I don't really have to time explain, but…" he said almost hesitantly.

"But what?" Thatch replied.

"The spy, the spy has attacked Teach. He's injured. Marco's got him though, and Oyaji is on his way as well, but harm has already been done…" Izo said, to which Thatch simply _froze. _

What? Had he heard correctly? Hurt? _Hurt? _Luffy, _Luffy _of all people had hurt Teach, another one of his brothers? No, this couldn't be right…

Thatch felt an unmistakable feeling of guilt arise from his stomach. Why did he feel guilty? Because he had betrayed his brothers by hiding Luffy? Or because something had happened to Luffy, the little brother he was hiding- _protecting_?

He heard loud noises come from the other side of the massive hallway that had formed thanks to the 5 broken walls…

He heard yelling…. something was happening.

_Something was happening to Luffy. _

The moment Thatch realized that, he broke into a sprint, his focus being on nothing more than reaching Luffy, seeing that it was really false. The kind and loving Luffy hadn't hurt a crewmate, he couldn't, he couldn't, he couldn't….

The thoughts were racing through Thatch's head as he kept sprinting towards the scene where he hoped, he _prayed _that he wouldn't find what Izo had told him.

'Please don't let it be true… just please don't…' Thatch thought, panicking. From behind him he heard ushered footsteps, Izo's footsteps, he figured.

He didn't mind, didn't care. Nothing mattered except for one sole thing. _Luffy. _

With hurried footsteps, Thatch finally arrived. There were a lot of people. That was to be expected, considering how much noise there had been when Luffy had crashed through the wall. Something wasn't adding up in Thatch's mind. He couldn't put the pieces together.

What had happened while he was asleep? _Obviously _something had happened, but what. _What? _

Thatch felt so confused, disoriented. What had happened during the time he was unaware?

That question was haunting Thatch's mind, roaring before his ears louder than anything else had in _years. _

The distance to between him and Luffy was short, but it felt so long. Every second felt drawn out, every second was 100 more milliseconds for his heart to start beating faster, for his mind to grow more panicked.

There were so many people blocking the way. Though as soon as they noticed him, they cleared.

"It's commander Thatch! Move out of the way, let him get through!" As soon as the message was heard and understood, the people immediately split, allowing for a passageway to form. Thatch did not take this chance for granted, and hurried into where he knew he would find what he was looking for.

'_Luffy!' _The fourth-division commander thought, the moment he laid his eyes upon the sight… It was just what he had feared worst.

Teach was lying on the ground, bloody and beaten. Several crewmembers were already there, keeping watch and standing protectively, as if the they thought the stranger would try to attack their brother again.

But, with the way Marco was handling this, there was _no_ way he was escaping. The phoenix had him pinned up against the wall, _tight. _And he was _furious. _

Marco's flames were sparking, something not often seen…. The kid, Luffy, looked to have a hard time breathing, but not a drop of sweat was running down his forehead… Not even in a situation as _this _was he scared.

"Marco!" Thatch called out, hoping he could snap the phoenix out of his enraged mindset, hoping he could get him to hear him, listen to him.

But to no avail. The first division commander simply stood, not taking his eyes off of the kid, not for as much as a second.

"Thatch? Where's Oyaji?" He simply asked.

"Oyaji? He's… he's on his way. Marco, have you talked with the-"

"No, not yet," Marco said, as if almost _refusing _Thatch to finish his sentence. Thatch gulped silently. No, there was no way he was convincing Marco of anything other than the thoughts he had running through his head right now….

Thatch didn't want this… he couldn't stand watching this right now. Marco was holding- _hurting _Luffy, who didn't even try to fight it. Not because he was hurt, overwhelmed or defeated, no!

Simply because… simply because what? Thatch could never understand this kid!

Why didn't he resist if he was really a spy? But at the same time, he had _actually _hurt one of his nakama… what was going on?

Things weren't adding up… the hole in his wall… Teach being injured, the fight, Marco's rage, Luffy's behavior…. it wasn't coming together right. Something was missing… a piece of this puzzle was missing, Thatch felt it.

"Your grip is… tight, commander-"

"Shut it! I don't want to hear another word from your mouth. And _don't _call me commander, you got that, yoi?" Marco said, interrupting Luffy, who clearly had a hard time breathing. Marco was _not _to be messed with…

Luffy and Marco simply glared at each other in silence, Marco being furious and Luffy being awfully calm. Thatch looked around to see all others there.

Almost every single commander was there, looking just about as mad as Marco did. They all looked ready to jump into action at a moment's notice, twitching to take their anger out on something- someone.

Tension was high, and Thatch was anxious. What should he do? Should he say something? Do something? He didn't know! He had never been in a situation like this!

"Make way! Oyaji is arriving!" Sounded a voice behind him. Thatch felt a slight feeling of relief at the sound of his father's name. If no one else would listen to him, Oyaji would, right?

Thatch turned, though very, _very _shortly after discovered that he was _not _gonna be able to talk with Oyaji about this. He was angry- _fuming. _

"Where is he?" The old man's voice showed nothing but pure anger and madness.

"Over here, Oyaji," sounded a voice of a fellow commander. As Whitebeard was being led in the direction of Luffy, Thatch couldn't help but think one sole thing:

'_What the hell am I supposed to do!?' _

Because at this point, he truly didn't know.

* * *

**Luffy**

* * *

Luffy knew that all eyes were on him, that he was the center of attention. He had just attacked one of Ace's nakama- _ex _nakama, he corrected, so it was only understandable that they would all be mad. No, in fact, they had every right to.

As long as they found out that he was really a bastard that had wanted to hurt- _kill _Thatch, then they could hate him as much as they wanted.

All of a sudden though, Luffy felt someone, someone _strong _and _terrifying _come towards him. Luffy knew he shouldn't be scared of Ace's nakama, but this guy gave off an aura of nothing but sheer power and anger.

He was _strong, _one of, if not _the_ strongest person Luffy had ever seen.

The man was big, tall. He towered over all other people. Just his mere silhouette was intimidating. Luffy was no genius, but even _he _could figure out who this person was.

'_Whitebeard…' _The name raced through Luffy's head. He had heard it only a couple of times, but he knew that the name was feared. A strong and mighty captain who protects his family over anything else…. a Yonko of the 6 seas….

The man came towards him, nothing but hostility aimed his direction. He was on guard, he was _angry. _Luffy couldn't help but silently shiver a little. Not much scared him, but the things that did were _terrifying. _

The man didn't say anything. He mere looked at Luffy with a pair of eyes that could _kill, _and then at Teach, his fallen son, and at last over at Marco, who was still holding him, though appeared to be keeping his cool better than before, now that the captain was here.

"What happened?" He asked.

"This bastard did _that,_" Marco said, referring to Teach, who was still lying unconscious on the ground.

"Probably because he was the one who spoiled his plans. But still… to injure someone else because of _that _is just… straight up _wrong, _yoi," Marco implied, his voice still angry, though it was more collected now.

"I didn't ask you, Marco," Whitebeard said, to which Marco's eyes widened.

"Let him go," Whitebeard commanded, which seemed to shock _everyone _on board.

"What!? But- but Oyaji! He hurt Teach! What if he tries anything when we let him go!?" Yelled a random crewmate.

"Have you so little trust in me that you think I wouldn't be able to stop a _brat _trying to hurt my sons?" Whitebeard question. Everyone's attention shifted, knowing he was right. He was _one _person and they were several dozens. There was nothing he could do, but still…

"N-no, but-"

"Good, then do as I requested. Marco, if you would," Whitebeard stated. "Tch!" The phoenix scoffed, knowing he had no choice but to listen to his father.

He let go, letting Luffy wall to the ground with an awkward _thump. _

"Owie!" The rubber boy exclaimed, rubbing his back. Marco stepped back in respect for his captain, who passed through and stood directly in front of Luffy shortly after.

"Answer my question, brat," he said wrathfully. Luffy looked up and stared the large man in the eyes, his expression turning serious. His eyes showed exactly what he wanted to say.

"_Tell me what I want, or I won't hesitate to kill you." _

But strangely, Luffy caught a sight of something else in the old man's eyes… was it… guilt? Sympathy? Luffy couldn't tell, he had never been too good at reading people's feelings…

Without complaining or saying anything, Luffy got up from the floor and stared into his eyes, before he started talking.

"I hurt him," he said, to which the entire atmosphere shifted. It became _dark _and _unpleasant. _Luffy hurried with saying his next sentence so that the Whitebeard pirates didn't kill him right there and now.

"But I had a reason," he stated.

"Which was?"

Luffy waited several seconds before deciding to answer. He glared over at the injured man, making him blood boil enough for him to truthfully say what he had seen.

"_He was going to kill Thatch." _

Luffy said, to which he was only met by utter and complete silence. Teach? _Kill _Thatch? A crewmate, a brother killing another? What the hell was this spy saying? That he had hurt one of their brothers because Teach was going to hurt Thatch?

He was a spy though. Was he trying to fool them into believing he _cared _for them?

As soon as the confusion had passed, anger overtook the already pissed off Whitebeard pirates, and the started yelling loudly.

"What the hell is he saying!?"

"He's a liar, he's lying!"

"Kill him!"

"The bastard spoke to us like that!"

"Who does he think he is!?"

"Who does he think _WE _are!?"

The yells were coming from all sides, every single one showing ill intent. Luffy didn't care about that though. They had to know the truth. The yelling only got louder and louder, and it was clear, that Whitebeard had more things he wanted to say.

"EVERYBODY, QUIET DOWN, YOI!" The sound of Marco's booming voice was what finally cut off the many, many yells.

"But Marco! This sick joke actually just tried to frame one of _our _brothers for something _he _would've done!" Haruta spoke up, to which all other crewmembers could only agree.

"I know, yoi! I'm not stupid. I know as much as you what this guy just told us… but Oyaji still wanted to speak. _So shut your mouths, yoi,_" Marco said in a scary tone that he did not use very often.

The crew remained quiet after that. Everyone's attention just turned to their father and the unknown individual.

Whitebeard walked over to the unprepared Luffy in silence, and before he could register what was happening, he grabbed the small boy and picked him up. But not in the cute, friendly kind of way- no…

He was being held tightly, in order to ensure he wouldn't escape. Luffy felt uncomfortable and could, once again, almost not breathe in the big man's hands, though he was sure the old man wouldn't care even if he did complain.

"I'm giving you one last chance. Explain yourself and why you've hurt my son," Whitebeard stated.

Luffy stared at the old man, his heart beating as he once again yelled.

"I've already told you! I was with Thatch, when all of a sudden he came in and rose a knife at him while he was sleeping! He would've killed him if I hadn't punched him!" Luffy yelled.

Whitebeard remained silent as a dark shadow fell over his eyes.

Luffy stared, before he continued.

"I had to! He doesn't deserve nakama, he was gonna kill-"

Luffy's brain couldn't process what was happening in time. The force that was holding him, the hand which had a tight grip on him, all of a sudden increased.

Not only that, but he felt himself going _down, _as in _down _towards the hard floor, at an _extremely _high speed. The last thing he saw before he fell unconscious was the dark wooden floor, and he heard cracking sounds, almost as if something was being broken.

From there on, everything went black, and he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

**Marco**

* * *

Marco stared at the sight before him. It had happened so suddenly that he needed a few seconds to process it…

The spy was just about to say something, when Oyaji had what looked like _snapped, _and used his brute strength to _smash _the kid, which he honestly felt a little bad for's head _directly _into the ground.

The giant man had used so much strength, that he had also ended up using his devil fruit powers to amplify the damage done. Not only did that leave a lot of damage on the ship, but Marco was _certain _the kid wouldn't go free without some kind of head injury.

The crowd was silent, completely silent. The spy was unconscious and Oyaji was not saying anything. No one was.

Then, all of a sudden, the old man started standing up straight again, and turned to his children.

"My apologies. I don't know what came over me," he stated, to which he was only left with even more silence.

"My sons, go take care of Teach," he said. His tone of voice had once again began fading into that sweet caring voice that they all recognized to well.

"Y-yes, Oyaji," was simply what he got as a reply. Several crew members were required to carry Teach into the infirmary where he could get his wounds treated.

Several members who knew this was not their time or their place to be also decided to leave afterward, leaving mostly only stubborn members and commanders afterward.

Marco walked over to Oyaji, and simply just stared for several seconds before bending down on one knee.

He looked at the injured boy, his medical eyes scanning his closely… 'He can't be older than 17… 16... ' the phoenix strangely thought. Why was that the first thing that he noticed?

"Oyaji, you really went overboard with this one. We really didn't get to question him much, and now he's unconscious…" Marco said, leaning down. He just had to check that the brat was in fact still breathing.

"Sorry. I suppose I let my anger take over…" he simply said, to which Marco could only sigh.

"I know… what this guy said made no sense whatsoever, yoi…" Marco said, rubbing the bridge between his eyes. He could already feel another headache forming. This was gonna be a lot of work.

"What should we do with him, yoi?" Marco asked looking at his father, who waited several seconds before answering.

"I still have many things I want to know from him… lock him up, that would most likely be the best," Whitebeard said. Marco nodded agreeing.

Without much hesitation, he leaned forward and got a tight grip on the kid. He carefully- or not so much, threw the kid over his shoulder. Blood was dripping from his head and possibly somewhere else, but Marco couldn't determine that without a thorough examination right now.

"Oyaji, you're gotta be more careful. If he ends up with a grade 3 concussion, there's a good chance he won't be able to remember what just happened when he wakes up," the doctor commented.

Whitebeard frowned and furrowed his brows, before signalling Marco to leave, which he did. He made haste as he hurried down towards their holding cells.

They did not have many, only a total of 3 on the entire ships. The Moby Dick did, however, host quite a couple of sets of seastone chains.

Who knew- when sailing the many seas of the world, you would never be able to tell if you'd ever come across a devil fruit user who you'd have to restrain, or incase a devil fruit user was ever put under room arrest (this mostly applied to Ace), and they had to make sure that the certain person did not use their devil fruit powers to grill their way out, or use their powers at all while receiving their punishment.

It came in handy, and when the oh so rare occurrence that they would have to actually lock someone up in a cell came, they also had those.

Marco hurried with the restraints as he sat the boy down in the cell. He used seastone chains- you never know on these seas- and locked everything up quickly and efficiently. Exactly how he liked it.

He took a quick look at the boy's wounds, but found nothing that looked so serious it had to be treated right away. Marco simply lit a flame at the the kid's head to stop the bleeding.

Shortly after, he stood up and walked out of the cell, remembering to close and lock the door behind him.

"Stay and keep watch. Tell me the second he regain consciousness, got it?" He asked three fellow brothers who had followed him down there.

They all nodded agreeingly, and Marco hurried out of there and back to the main deck. It was mostly cleared out by now, and a couple of handymen were already working on the broken floor and walls that had popped up.

He scanned the deck, but didn't catch sight of Oyaji nor any other division commander. Because of that observation, he concluded that they were most likely in their meeting room- Oyaji's quarters.

Hurrying in the direction of the doors, something felt off to him as he walked by. Nothing was wrong, but his gut simply twisted and turned like something was horribly wrong.

But nothing was wrong, Marco could both see and knew that. The spy had been stopped, Teach was being treated, and the other division commanders and Oyaji were most likely in a meeting discussing tonight's events.

But as Marco walked up to the door, a voice caught his attention.

"_I, I have something to confess…" _

'...Thatch, yoi?' Marco thought. This was strange… Thatch wasn't the type of guy who would go around hiding secrets. This had peaked Marco's interest so he decided to wait with entering the door to Oyaji's room.

He simply stood and listened closely.

"_The kid… I- The reason you couldn't find him is because… Because I hid him in my room," _Thatch's voice continued.

…

'_What!?'_

* * *

**Thatch**

* * *

"Huh!? What did you just say!?" The yell came from the 12th division commander, Haruta. He had quite a little bit of a bad temper, though nothing that compared to the hotheaded mess that was their 2nd division commander, of course.

Everyone was in shock at what Thatch had said. He had been hiding the spy? But why? _Why _would he do that?! They hated to admit it, but it _did _make a lot of things make sense.

The cook had spent an awful lot of time inside of his room for the last 2 days or so, and a couple of the division commanders who had walked by had thought that they had heard a second voice in there…

'I thought it was just my imagination!' several of them thought.

"Hold on, hold on, hold for just one second! I don't get this, this doesn't make sense! Why would you be hiding the spy?"

This exact question seemed to be bugging everyone's mind. And while everyone seemed to have mixed reactions- some seemed mad, some speechless and some completely oblivious to what had just been said.

Whitebeard himself simply remained quiet, determined to hear his son out and let him explain himself and his words.

"Yeah… I thought… everything pieced together so weirdly. Considering the hole came from _your _room, I thought that it had been the other way around of how the kid had explained it… _he _was the one trying to kill _you, _and _Teach _tried to stop _him…" _Jozu stated.

"But if he's been in there while you've been vulnerable for over a whole day… and if _you _voluntarily let him inside, why wait until then to strike?" Fossa added, confused. The other commanders nodded agreeing.

"Look… I know you're all stuck up on the idea that he's a spy, but I really don't think that's the case… as outrageous as it sounds, I want to believe his side of the story more than what we've simply concluded from what's happened tonight…" Thatch said, his voice a little shaky, though honest.

Silence fell upon the room, though it was interrupted very shortly after, as the door _shot _open, a certain mad looking phoenix storming through.

"That may be, but we can't honestly believe that, yoi!" he exclaimed.

"Marco!? How long have you been standing there?" Thatch exclaimed.

"Long enough," Marco stated, his eyes filled furrowed. "Oyaji, you can't seriously consider this, can you? That some kid, who is very likely a spy actually _saved _Thatch from a _crewmate_?" He said, his tone skeptical.

He expected the large man to answer, but when no reply came from neither Oyaji nor another commander, he simply got even madder than been before.

"I was _there, _yoi! I _saw him _attack Teach! I know what I saw! If by any chance it _was _the other way around, then _why _did he act so hostile towards Teach who was obviously overwhelmed and nervous, yoi!?" Marco exclaimed.

Though once again, he was answered by silence.

"Marco, I don't know if you remember, but… how did you first feel once Ace joined the crew?" Thatch asked.

"_Ace_? What's he got to do with this, yoi?" Marco answered, confused. Thatch stared at Marco who was confused for several seconds before giving his answer.

"Just answer it please…"

Marco looked to the other commanders, who simply looked understanding. He then turned to Oyaji, who had the exact same look on his face. The two of them stared each other in the eyes for several seconds before the old man nodded.

Marco sighed.

"Sure, yoi," the phoenix replied, before he stopped for a bit to think. '_How did I feel when Ace first joined the crew..? It's been a couple years, but I remember pretty clearly, yoi…' _

"I think… I think I felt protective, yoi. Like he was my little brother, someone who needed protecting and saving from trouble I could already tell he was going to get himself into…"

"Someone that I felt very happy being with, who never had any problem making me smile… or giving me headaches, yoi…"

"He's our little brother, so of course that's how it was… but why would you ask that question, yoi?" Marco was confused as to why the cook had just made him speak about his feelings about Ace in front of the rest of the commanders and Oyaji….

"Exactly… I know this sounds crazy, but that's the way I feel about Luffy," Thatch replied.

"Luffy?" The name rang a bell somewhere within Marco's head, but he couldn't quite remember from where…. he had heard the name before though, that was undoubtable.

"The kid," Thatch explained.

"We've spent such little time together, but something about him just makes you want to protect him. I really feel like he's a little brother… an adorable little brother. He did nothing wrong, his eyes were completely innocent…" Thatch said.

Marco simply stared, his jaw being wide open. What was Thatch implying?

"Please just listen to what I'm saying. I'm not saying Luffy _didn't _hurt Teach. It's an undeniable fact, we saw that with our own eyes. But… I feel there's a side to the story we don't know. And I'm saying we should figure out what that is."

"If we find incriminating evidence against him, then I won't try to get around it any longer… but… maybe we'll find something. Something that proves that she spoke the truth- or at least the somewhat truth," Thatch said, his eyes almost begging.

The room was silent. Not a single person knew what to say. Thatch had explained himself, and he had made them think. Maybe something _was _off?

"I say let's do it." Haruta was the one to break the silence after what felt like several _veery _long-drawn minutes.

"Do what?"

"Search for evidence, of course!" The small commander replied back, his usual cheery attitude returning to his tone of voice.

"Are you saying we should play detectives _now, _where the entire ship is in a fuss over what happened?" Vista asked.

"_Play detectives_!? No! But if there _is _anything proving what really happened, then we have to find it, right!?" Haruta implied, to which he was met by mostly silence.

As soon as it looked as such that another person was about to speak up, a familiar sound was heard coming from the other side of the door. Footsteps. _Loud _and _fast-paced _footsteps. Someone was running towards them.

"Commanders, Oyaji! It's the navy! 15 ships in total!" A subordinate came storming along the deck and into their vision.

Everyone's commander instincts immediately kicked in, the moment he uttered the word _navy. _

"What, so early in the morning? Garh, why do we have to deal with this now?" A clearly tired Haruta yammered.

The small commander was right. The night had slowly left them behind, and the sun was mere minutes away from beginning to rise. And the whole incident had taken place not too long ago. _Meaning, _none of them had really gotten that much sleep.

And now the _navy _were here? How unlucky could they get?

"Ah well, no way around. We'll be there in a bit!" Namur reassured the subordinate, who simply nodded and ran off again. As the commanders stood up and began leaving the room to go assist and command their respective divisions, Thatch was suddenly stopped with a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll continue this conversation, yoi," Marco said seriously. Thatch nodded understanding and then also left at last.

* * *

**The navy**

* * *

"Commander! Commander Luke, the Moby Dick is right up ahead!" a subordinate yelled from the bottom of the warship.

"Prepare for battle! These scumbags are going to pay for what they did to my _beautiful _princess Morgan!" The commander exclaimed, pure rage plastered on his face.

"Men! Our top priority is fire-fist Ace! I want him found, dead or alive! He will _pay _for what he's done!"

"YEAH!" All the perverted navy-soldiers exclaimed at once, their roar being heard loud and clear. No one messed with their beautiful women, _especially _not pirates! That bastard, fire-fist Ace, had tried to _seduce _and _take advantage _of her.

And what do you know, the small fleet had just so happened to come across the large ship this morning. They were _not _missing their chance at this, even if the whitebeard's were one of the strongest pirate-crews alive!

Nothing could stand in the way of them and their love to commander Morgan!

"Prepare for battle! Load the cannons!"

The soldiers were running around vividly on deck, constantly performing duties or outliving orders that were being cast at them. They were going into battle.. into battler over something that mattered more than their lives…

_The dignity and recognition of the beloved Morgan!_

"Sir! The division commanders have appeared! What should we do!?" it suddenly came from the subordinate on the look-out.

"Tch! Fire! Prepare the cannons!" He shouted.

"Yessir!" The obedient soldiers went to work.

"Cannons are ready to fire!" Said another soldier, literally not even 10 seconds later. '_Well that was certainly done quickly and efficiently…' _Luke thought.

"Fire!" He shouted. As he did, cannonballs started flying out of the cannons and at the giant ship. It was loud, very loud.

It was a known fact that when one first joined the navy, the first couple of battles were always scary, somewhat exciting, and _loud. _It took a while to get used to the deafening crashes from the cannons and whatever else was so loud it could make you go deaf.

It was a proven fact that navy soldiers usually lost some of their hearing after being with the marines for a while, though after getting through the first couple of weeks, all soldiers usually managed.

"Sir! One of the ships is close to the enemy boat! Shall we let them take the fighting to the deck!?"

"Should we take the fighting to the deck, _OF COURSE, WE SHOULD! _Or did you have anything else in mind, considering we're supposed to _FIND _and _RETRIEVE _fire-fist!?" Luke yelled out, sounding angrier than he had meant to.

The now clearly scared navy soldier nodded, before running off to say as he was instructed to.

The cannons were still firing rapidly, but no cannonballs appeared to be making any damage to the ship.

'_Damn those division commanders! They must be stopping the cannonballs from hitting the deck!' _Luke thought.

"Men! We have to get closer to the main boat! We will take the fighting to the main deck!" He said.

Shortly after giving out those orders, the ship started sailing _directly _towards the Whitebeards' ship. The soldiers knew he was serious about approaching head on, and so were they. Nothing could stop them from achieving their goal, no, nothing at all!

As the ship slowly got closer and closer, the soldiers started being able to see what was going on on the massive deck. There was a lot, _a lot _of pirates, but that wasn't going to stop them! As soon as the boat got close enough, they knew exactly what the commander was going to order them…

The seconds passed…

The boat got closer...

They could see, almost reach, _touch _the railing of the Moby Dick..

All soldiers prepared.

"_CHARGE!" _Came the orders, and with that, the soldiers all jumped onto the enemy ship and started engaging in combat.

"Damn, these guys are persistent!"

"We have to get them out'a here before they destroy Moby! If they do, I swear heads are gonna roll!"

"Commanders, what should we do!?"

The battle began raging on the deck. Swords were drawn, punches were thrown, and battle cries could be heard left and right. Both parties were going strong, no one wanted to back down.

Commander Luke found himself standing head to head with another commander- _Thatch, _4th division commander- if he remembered correctly.

"Where is he!? Surrender him now, and we'll leave!" The navy captain exclaimed. The division commander looked started as he drew his swords.

"Who are you talking about!?" He simply exclaimed back, as Luke jumped at him with his swords, Thatch blocking.

"Oh, you _know _who I'm talking about!" He said, to which the color in Thatch's face appeared to be draining a little bit. '_Heh, he must be nervous about this as well! Pirate scum, I can't stand them!' _Luke thought smirking visibly.

"Fire-fist Ace! We're here for bastard! He deserves divine justice for what he has done!" Luke yelled. Thatch's eyes widened and he blinked, leaving and opening for Luke.

'_I've got him now!' _He thought, and jumped at the commander at high speed. He managed to dodge last second though, as he realized what was going on, _barely _getting away from Luke's blades, which would've cut off his head, had he not jumped out of the way.

'_Damn it!' _Luke innerly cursed.

"Whew, close one! Man, I let my guard down there," the cook exclaimed. '_Why is he so carefree? Does he not understand that he almost got his head cut off!? That we're currently _attacking _him!?' _Luke thought, utterly confused.

"Thatch, yoi!"

The yell came from the other direction, and _another _man came jumping from the _sky _and landed right next to the fourth division commander. It did not take longer than 3 seconds for Luke to recognize the man.

'_First division commander, Marco the phoenix!' _He thought, to which sweat started forming on his forehead. He was _powerful, _he _knew _that.

"You've gotta be more careful, Thatch! You let your guard down, had you reacted a second later your head could've been cut off, yoi!" He yelled, almost _scolded? _At the fourth division commander.

"Sorry, sorry, Marco! It won't happen again!"

"It better not, or _I'm _the one who'll be responsible for re-attaching your head, you idiot!"

"C'mon, Marco nothing happened! Why're you angry?"

"I'm _angry, _because _you _almost died, and you could've avoided it if you hadn't let your guard down, yoi!"

The two kept bickering, almost as if they had forgotten that Luke was even there… He stared dumbfounded at the two commanders… They were like _children _bickering over a simple misunderstanding!

_These _were the feared and renowned commanders of the Whitebeard pirates, a _Yonko _crew? Subordinates to the strongest man alive, Whitebeard's close seconds? And they were arguing mid-battle!?

"There's still an enemy trying to attack you, you know!" Luke exclaimed, which caught the two commanders' attention.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You said something about Ace right. What'd he do?" The fourth division commander asked, calm and fearless. This man, this man thought he was a _joke!_

"Tch!" Luke clutched his teeth before getting back into a battle stance. He would show these men that he was, in fact, no joke! '_I'll prove that what you taught me wasn't for granted, Garp-san!' _

"Your beloved second division commander committed a grave crime when he was in our base, and I will _never _forgive him or your crew for it!" Luke started.

The two division commanders listened curiously, much to the marine captain's dismay.

"He broke in and infiltrated our ranks by assaulting _me, _and not only did he violate and dishonor all of us, but he also took advantage of my blind girlfriend and tried to _seduce _her while pretending to be me!" Luke exclaimed.

Thatch blinked.

Marco blinked.

And then Thatch began hysterically laughing. "What?! Ace _took advantage of a girl _while pretending to be her boyfriend!? BWAHAHAHAHA! Marco, did you hear that, oh my God that's freaking hysterical!"

The cook was in tears and having a hard time breathing.

"He is _sooooo _gonna hear from me about that once he gets back, AHAHAHAHAHA!" The fourth division commander simply kept laughing and laughing, and even the first division commander, who had looked so calm and serious before, was fighting in the chuckles that were escaping his mouth slightly.

"This is too good to be true! We've gotta tell the others about this, where are they?! Hey! Hey, Haruta, come listen to this-!"

"Okay, I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Luke exclaimed. That appeared to catch the attention of the two commanders.

"Don't think I'll just stand around while you laugh at me like that!" He exclaimed, starting to feel the anger rise from his core.

Thatch finally stopped laughing and Marco stood up straight, putting on his serious face again.

"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to laugh at _you. _It's just, Ace hasn't ever done anything like that before, and it's fun when you get something that you can use to make fun of your little brother!" Thatch said, giggling a little at the end.

Luke's body softened at this. Wait, they hadn't been laughing at him? They had simply laughed at what _fire-fist _had done?

And _little brother_? Weren't they all just powerful people gathered under one captain, each person _controlling _and _commanding _their subordinates? If so, then why was fire-fist the _little _brother? Wasn't he a commander as well?

"Listen, what Ace did on that mission was something we had no control over, yoi. He's reckless and an idiot, so he does a lot of stupid stuff. I should've known this happened because of him, yoi. You're all from that exact base he was sent to infiltrate," Marco replied.

Luke simply stood, not really knowing what to say or do. His angry flame of rage had been extinguished, and he was starting to doubt his motives for some strange reason.

"And besides, Ace isn't even here. He hasn't returned from that mission yet, so even if you _wanted _to kick his ass right now, he's not here," Thatch said, to which Luke simply gritted his teeth.

"Commander! Commander Luke!" Came a cry from not too far behind them. One of the navy soldiers, he was pretty beat up, yelled at him.

"What is it?!"

"I-I! We've discovered something… something quite… quite unique, so to say! Please, we have to retreat!" The soldier exclaimed.

"Tch!" Luke clicked his tongue and turned the other way. He knew he was right. They were losing, and fire-fist Ace was not even here. And if they had also discovered something that made him this nervous then…

"I bet you already see it, yoi," Marco said.

"Your men are tired and beat down. You've really not got many choices, other than to retrieve your men… did you really think you could beat _us, _yoi?" Marco said, suddenly sounding _cold, _and _big, _and _scary. _

Luke gulped, Marco was intimidating. And scary. _Very _scary. He didn't want to… he didn't want to retreat, but he was scared… the way he looked at him..

Even though he was a powerful marine captain, who's seen countless things, he wanted nothing more than to run away this very moment, just from the intimidating stare the first-division commander was giving him.

'_He really is Whitebeard's strongest..!' _Luke thought.

"Men! We're retreating, everyone back to the ship!" He yelled at the top of his lunges.

The moment the command was heard, soldiers stopped engaging in battle with the Whitebeards and started running back to their warship.

They knew this was the best option. They were overpowered and outnumbered, there was no way for them to win. Retreating was logical, and many had realized that not long after they had engaged in combat.

Almost all soldiers were back on the main ship now. Luke was the last person to run from the deck and back onto the boat.

"Furl the sails!" He yelled as he jumped on board, and the warships unnaturally quickly began sailing away again.

"_And _stay _away!" _He heard someone yell from the Moby Dick. Normally, he wouldn't have let such a hurtful remark slip by, but he did just this time at the remembrance of Marco's evil glare.

'_Just thinking about it gives me shivers!' _The marine captain thought all to himself.

"Commander Luke!" Someone snapped him out of his mindset.

"Yes, what is it?"

"About what I told you earlier…" The soldier started.

"Ah, yes, the 'quite unique' thing that you discovered. What was it?" He asked since they were now a good distance away from the Moby Dick again.

The sun had risen by now, and it was shining brightly. Not as much as a single dark cloud to be spotted on the clear sky. It was quite a beautiful sight, if you took away all of the beaten navy soldiers.

"I-... a couple of our soldiers were knocked back… back into a room, where we discovered that the Whitebeard pirates are holding someone prisoner…. someone, we didn't expect…" the soldier started.

Luke lifted an eyebrow. The Whitebeards were keeping prisoners? Now, this was almost unheard of.

"Well, what are you waiting for, a formal invitation? Spit it out already!" Luke stated.

"Y-yes of course sir! The person… the person they held captive… was none other than _Straw-hat-Luffy!" _The soldier exclaimed.

Luke stood there, speechless for several seconds. His mind went blank. _What? _

Strawhat Luffy, as in _the straw hat_ Luffy who had _broken into _and _destroyed _Enies Lobby, and committed so many other crimes!? Luke had a grudge against him… it was nothing personal, but he just felt so _angry _whenever looking at his wanted poster and whenever someone spoke that name…

"_What?" _He said, anger boiling, and boiling and boiling and _BOILING _up inside of him.

"GIVE ME A DEN DEN MUSHI IMMEDIATELY! I NEED TO CONTACT HQ ABOUT THIS!" He yelled out at the poor navy soldier.

"U-understood, sir!" The soldier said, cowering and trembling away awkwardly in fear…

Luke stared angrily at the horizon… these news did _not _sit well with him…

'_Strawhat Luffy captured by the Whitebeard pirates… who would've thought..' _

* * *

**Whitebeard pirates**

* * *

"You didn't have to scare him like that, you know," the fourth division commander said, turning to Marco, who just shrugged.

"He needed a little push. I didn't want to deal with him for longer, he seemed like the persistent type, yoi. I'm tired enough as is," the phoenix replied, to which Thatch only giggled.

"I guess he did deserve it…. but oh man! Ace _seducing a woman_, who would've thought, Bwahahaha!" Thatch laughed, the thought still appealing _hilarious_ to him.

"I feel bad, you're definitely gonna exploit that information when he gets back, yoi," Marco implied.

"Oh, the poor boy won't know what hit him.." Thatch said, evilly rubbing his hands together. A large, almost _sadistic _smile was formed on his lips, and Marco couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen to poor Ace once he got back…

Though all of a sudden, their little chat was interrupted, when a brother came storming from the direction of the lower deck.

"Commander Marco! Commander Marco! Commander Mar- Ah! Commander Thatch, you're there as well!" He said, his face having a questionable expression plastered on it.

Marco's brows furrowed.

"What is it, yoi?" He asked as the subordinate stopped, panting quite heavily. He had to regain his breath for a couple of seconds before he could answer the question asked before him.

"You- _ha… _You told me to come find as soon as the spy- _ha….ha _woke up," he said in between large breaths. Marco and Thatch both tensed at what he had said.

"Luffy's awake!?" Thatch said just as Marco was about to ask the same exact question. The subordinate simply nodded, being too exhausted to really do much else. Then, without any warning, Marco and Thatch both started sprinting at full power down towards the holding cell.

Luffy was awake. It had only been a couple of hours, but they were both desperate for answers, answers they could get now.

The door was basically torn off its hinges as the two commanders stormed inside. True enough, the brat was really awake. And he looked to be arguing with one of the guards. He stopped as soon as his eyes fell upon Thatch and Marco though.

"Ah! It's you, Shishishishi!" He said happily. _Too _happily.

"Look, yoi. You've caused us a _lot _of trouble. Now that you're awake, you'd _better _answer all of our questions. _Honestly, _yoi," Marco said.

"C'mon, don't be so harsh, Marco. He just woke up after getting knocked out by Oyaji's attacks, cut him some slack, will ya?" Thatch said to Marco, who did _not _look pleased by that statement.

The first division commander sighed and walked past Thatch, stopping right in front of the kid. He looked down at him with a _very _serious glare, perhaps even more serious than the one from a couple of minutes ago, though the kid didn't seem affected for some strange reason…

"You've avoided us and our questions for long enough… now _answer _me, yoi."

"Who are you really!?" Marco said, accidentally letting anger take over his voice. The image of this guy attacking Teach still burned freshly in his mind. Thatch may have warmed up to this so called _little brother, _but it was gonna take a little more convincing than that for Marco.

The kid looked at Marco and opened his mouth to answer the question.

"I'm-"

"_Luffy?" _

The voice was unexpected, though familiar. The tone was shocked and petrified, and they all knew who it belonged to.

A strangely happy, _extremely happy _smile formed on the boy's lips before he uttered out the person who had interrupted them's name.

"Ace!" He said, his tone showing nothing but pure happiness and relief.

* * *

**BAM BAM BAM! I'm starting to get the hang of this cliffhanger thing, don't you think? Only 1 chapter left before the "10 days"! :D.**

_**IMPORTANT**__**:**_** After the chapter released tomorrow, the updates will change from daily to weekly. I've had all of these chapters on hand, but I still need to write everything for the 10 days myself, so weekly updates it is!**

* * *

**Some answers to some more reviews:**

**SarahPrincess: Thanks! :3**

**MyLove4Hetalia: I know, this whole mess will hopefully be figured out soon? You'll have to keep reading to find out! :) And yeah, that bastard deserves to burn in hell, don't worry, he's gonna get what he's got coming... **

**CiiBii: Thank you so much! You should be excited, my sis has already read it, and I can say... she was _QUITE _happy when she did... XD. And no problem, you keep reviewing, so it's only fair that I notice you!  
**

**soysauce: Thank you for the review. I know I have a lot to improve on. I haven't had English in that many years now, considering I'm still really young. (I'm old enough though, don't worry!) And yeah, writing these long chapters really takes a lot out of me XD**

**Vanimelde Melindel: I _can _do that. I did it, and I just did it again. XD. Don't worry, I promise Teach will get his balls kicked eventually, just be patient...**

**Artista the Psyco Ink Mistress: Here you go, updated!**

**SakuraS41: Oh, whoops? Hope this chapter didn't disappoint XD. Don't worry, they will get to know the truth of them in the next chapter, it's just a matter of time! And I get why you feel like that. I know it was kinda random, and it still bugs me too. But to this day, I have yet to come up with a better alternative, so you'll have to live with it for now. *Shrugs***

**MR97: Oh gosh, I'm not the best at Spanish but let me try; Gracias, eso significa mucho! :D (Was that right..? So sorry if I screwed it up XD)**

* * *

**That'll be it for now! Please review, follow and favorite for more! Peace out!**

**\- Shadow**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! This will be the _last _chapter before the 10 days begin! There will be more about the 10 days in the next chapter, so don't worry, the story isn't ending here! This chapter is a little longer than the rest, so I hope you enjoy it :3.**

**A review, follow and/or favorite would be highly appreciated!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned one piece, do you really think I would have time to be writing this fanfiction? Why would I even _bother _writing fanfiction? XD**

**AND ALSO:****This story is being translated into Russian by the awesome Egoscum! If anyone else would like to translate this story into another language (that they are fluent in), you can contact me and we'll talk out the details!**

**Thank you so much to everyone who's following the development of this story and leaving nice/ constructive reviews!**

* * *

Ace was getting a bad feeling as the Moby Dick was ever so slowly getting more and more clear in the distance.

Something in his gut simply gave off an aura of _wrong _and _turn back, you don't want to go on board. _Why was this?

Was it because there was a spy on board? It would make sense… his gut was warning him of potential danger, but as far as Ace was concerned, he had not once felt unsafe on the Moby Dick since his rebellion, even when enemy ships or the alike attacked…

Ace was not the type who would feel threatened, he had taken on _Whitebeard _all by himself after all, but something just felt plain _wrong. _

Ace's brows furrowed. He was getting closer.

He hadn't heard anything from Marco, or anyone else for that sake since he had first called and told him about the apparent spy on board.

Ace had been to busy with finishing his mission, which had gone pretty smoothly after _THAT incident _had happened. The papers indicated some kind of clue, but there didn't seem to be any evidence on his blood relations.

He had just quickly scorched all of the papers in the office, payback for earlier, so to say. Ace knew how _damn annoying _paperwork could get. For some strange reason, _he _always seemed to get a butt-load of it, and some from the 4th division as well.

If anything, he was doing the navy a favor for decreasing their workload. Ace had simply escaped and started making his way to a nearby island for some food when he had gotten the call from Marco.

Saying he had been angry would be an understatement. Ace had been traveling non-stop for the past two days, not taking any breaks for food or any other requirements.

Unfortunately, even though he had taken so many measures to avoid any interference, so he could get home as soon as possible, he still wounded up in a storm that ended up causing him some delay…

Ace cursed mentally at the thought. Everything that had happened had just been such a mess. First, there was _*cough cough* _the _*cough cough* _"incident" at the marine base, then Marco called up about some spy that was out after him for some reason.

From what Ace could recall, he didn't currently have any pirates who had personal grudges against him… that's why this entire thing was so strange to him. Why the hell was this happening, and why against _him_?

And why against the _Whitebeard pirates _of all people?

Whitebeard was the world's most powerful man. The guy had a bounty of over 5 billion, for christ's sake! No one except for people who were either _extremely _brave or _extremely _stupid came near them, much less had intentions to _harm _his _children, _a _commander _at that. This entire thing just felt off, wrong, when you took all of those facts into consideration.

No matter, Ace had many times gone against the feeling in his gut and ended up fine… but then again, he had ended up really horribly as well. Ace cussed mentally at the recollection.

As his ship- _his home, _he corrected, came closer and closer in the distance, the feeling of dread only filled Ace more and more. Why was that? Had something really happened while he was gone? But if so, why hadn't he been contacted?

Ace frowned once again, mentally preparing himself for any possible outcome that popped up in his head. And as he did, the worry simply started spreading more.

What if something happened?

What if someone was hurt?

What if _Oyaji _was hurt?

What if someone was _dead_?

Ace wouldn't know, no one had told him. Ace bit his lower lip and unconsciously started speeding up, even more, something he had not thought possible before. Ace had been going top speed his entire journey, except for the couple of times he had had narcoleptic attacks.

To that, he had simply just fallen over into the boat. Luckily he didn't fall into the ocean, but this whole narcolepsy was really a drag, especially considering he was running out of medicine. 'I'll have to ask Marco for some more," he mentally added.

Ace was expecting there to be some kind of sign from the ship.

Nothing extraordinary or anything, but the others were usually good at signaling him whenever they had spotted him. But there was nothing. No waving, no yelling, no waving flags or people pulling down ropes.

Ace furrowed his brows at that. Either his family was very busy doing something that was distracting them, therefore being a plausible explanation as to why they hadn't seen him, or they weren't signaling to him for some strange reason…

'This is weird… something _is _off,' Ace thought, the knot of worry that was sitting in his gut tying around itself even tighter. Ace had a bad, a _really _bad feeling.

Getting the Striker back to her usual resting place and getting himself on board went quicker than Ace had ever managed to before. Almost no one- no, _no one _was around.. it was completely desolated.

Ace- desperate- set out on his search for someone- _anyone _who would be able to tell him what was happening.

Was the spy caught or not? Had anything happened, had anyone been hurt? Ace wanted _answers, _but right now, when that was the one thing he wanted more than anything, he could get them.

What should he do? Should he call Marco? But he was _on _the ship, he could just go to his office…. yeah, alright, that sounded like a plan.

Speeding up, Ace began _running _towards the 1st division commander's room. He found it odd that there was _still _no one around. Why, why was the ship so deserted? This was way too out of the ordinary to be a coincidence, something _must _have happened.

As that realization slowly sunk over Ace, he felt a lump in a stomach. It felt like a punch, a punch that hit him hard and right where it hurt most. Ace had taken a lot of beatings in his life, but situations like these were always so hard for him.

Suddenly, just as Ace was getting closer, he noticed something, or rather some_one _walking past. He didn't recognize this person, but he knew one thing. He could get _answers. _

"Oi! Wait up a second, you!" Ace called out, not minding the fact that his tone of voice had seemed a little harsh.

"Commander Ace!? Since when are you back, I thought you mentioned it would take you another 4 days to return!" The subordinate exclaimed. Ace ignored it and simply asked the question he had been literally _burning- _the guy is made of fire after all- to ask all of this time.

"Could you _please _tell me what the hell is going on? Where _is _everyone? Did something happen?" The commander asked almost desperately. The other person's facial expression turned into a surprised one, and he stared rather uncomfortably and waited a couple of _very _drawn out seconds before he answered.

"You don't know? I would've thought that you- the commander the spy was after- would be the first to be informed after what happened…"

AHA!. So something _did _happen!

Ace felt his heart accelerating, but if it was out of worry, excitement or anger he couldn't tell.

"_What _happened!? Where is everyone?"

The subordinate's face turned into a surprisingly _angry _expression. No- in fact, the guy wasn't angry, he was _furious. _

"It all happened just last night… the bastard had been planning to assassinate commander Marco, and-!"

"He _what?" _

Now it was Ace's turn to get really, _really, REALLY _mad. Had he heard correctly? _Assassinate _Marco? _Marco _of all people?! All of the worries really hadn't been for nothing, the spy had _actually _attempted to hurt another one of his brothers while he was gone..

The thought made Ace _boil _with anger.

'Sick bastard. I'll _kill _him if he isn't already dead…' Ace thought, gritting his teeth. The subordinate continued his explanation, cutting Ace out of his thought and back into the conversation they were having.

"The news upset and angered a lot of us… rumors had been goin' round about some spy, who was apparently nothing but a mere kid… 16 or 17 or something' like that…" he continued. Something in Ace's mind unconsciously clicked.

'_Oh yeah, that's right around Luffy's age now... ' _the big brother thought without knowing why.

Why was he thinking about Luffy in this situation? He hadn't seen him since he had run into him back at Alabasta a little while ago. Or well- it had been more than a couple of weeks at this point….

_I need to write him a letter again soon. _Ace made a mental note of that.

"Anyhow, that bastard really ended up doing something unforgivable…" the sudden statement _snapped _Ace out of his awfully calm set of mind. He did _not _like the tone of voice the subordinate had just used to say that sentence in…

The anger was clearly _boiling _within him.

Ace made note to mentally prepare himself for whatever came next. For some reason, he felt it was going to be something he would _not _be very happy- no, in fact, _furious _about. He was known on board for having a really bad temper, but when it came to things like this, he was ready to _kill _for his family, if it ever proved necessary of course.

"What happened?" Ace asked, fury beginning to take over his voice as well. The tension in the air was killing him. He wanted to- he _had _to know.

"The bastard… the bastard _attacked- _no, not only attacked, he _injured _and _knocked _Teach unconscious," the subordinate said, trembling of anger.

Ace _exploded. _

He didn't think. He saw red. He went over- _leaped _at his own subordinate, grabbing him by the collar.

"WHERE IS HE!? WHERE IS THE BASTARD THAT HURT TEACH!?" Ace yelled. His eyes were _deadly, _his voice was _fuming. _Ace was _not _to be messed with, he was ready to _kill. _

The subordinate, surprisingly calm, answered him. Maybe he understood why Ace was reacting the way he was and therefore being calm in the situation?

"In the cell at the south-east part of the ship."

As soon as the subordinate uttered those words, as _soon _as he had given Ace the information he seeked, information telling where the hell he could find the bastard who had dared _hurt his brother. _

Ace took off in a sprint, if you could even call it that.

Nothing else mattered at that moment. Only _one _thing was on Ace's mind.

Running.

Running to the cell, so he could beat the _shit _out of whoever had _hurt _his brother.

'_I'll kill him, I'll kill him, I'll kill him, I'll kill him, I'LL KILL HIM!'_ Ace saw and heard nothing other than his own thoughts. He was passing by many people, all who tried to catch his attention, but he didn't stop.

He didn't even look at them, didn't signal them, didn't talk, did _nothing _except just keep running. People were yelling, they were surprised to see him, they wanted to talk to him, but Ace ignored them, all and everything and just kept running, running running.

As the door slowly got closer and closer, he could make out two things.

The door was open.

People, he couldn't see completely clearly just who, were already inside of the room.

As long as they hadn't already beaten him to death, Ace didn't care who it was, as long as he got to take out his anger on this bastard as well.

Though as Ace got closer and closer, he started being able to hear what they were talking about. Or more precisely, he heard their _voices. _

"_Ah, it's you, Shishishishi!"_

"_Look, yoi. You've caused us a lot of trouble. Now that you're awake, you'd better answer all of our questions. Honestly, yoi,"_

"_C'mon, don't be so harsh, Marco. He just woke up after getting knocked out by Oyaji's attacks, cut him some slack, will ya?"_

Something was wrong. Very, _very _wrong.

Two of the voices he recognized just fine. They were Thatch and Marco's. But why… _why _did the last voice seem so _horribly _familiar?

'_No. No, that can't be…' _Ace thought as the mere shock overwhelmed him.

That voice. That _laugh. _He was not supposed to hear that, _not here, not now. _Ace recognized that voice, he recognized that laugh. _He would anywhere._

"_You've avoided us and our questions for long enough… now answer me, yoi."_

Ace slowly walked closer, the dread and fear spreading to every inch of his entire body. He was sweating, he was cold. This couldn't be true, it couldn't be!

Ace walked closer and closer. Marco, Thatch, and Oyaji didn't seem to have noticed him just yet. Ace didn't care. His heart was beating, accelerating even quicker than it had just a couple of mere seconds ago.

'Don't let it be true, please let me be hallucinating!' Ace thought, as the fear spread further and wider. Ace couldn't take it, he _couldn't _

'_It can't be true…' _

But as Ace walked closer and closer, the silhouette that had before been sitting in the dark became clear enough for him to make out details.

'_A 17-year-old…' _Ace thought, hesitantly taking another dreadful step forward.

'_Dark hair….'_

'_A small person… a kid so to say…'_

Ace's insides twisted and turned, he didn't want this, it had to be an illusion, it _had _to be. There was no way he wasn't dreaming right now..

The person who had _hurt _his family…

Who had been wanting to _kill _Marco…

Who had snuck on board and had bad intentions…

Who he had been so incredibly fuming over….

"_Who are you really!?"_

Ace knew the answer.

But he didn't want to say it, didn't want to admit it. He _knew _the person that was sitting in chains. He _knew _who it was that had hurt his brother…. but why, WHY!?

Dreadfully, Ace interrupted the person right as they were about to speak.

"I'm-"

"_Luffy?" _It hurt. It physically _hurt _Ace's throat to utter that one word. Why? Why was his little brother here? Why was Luffy- _Luffy _being accused of hurting _his _crew? Something was wrong, something was horribly, horribly wrong.

To Ace's horror, his little brother answered him. Answered him in his usual way. And normally, Ace wouldn't have minded, but this situation was so unbearable for him, he couldn't stand this.

Luffy smiled.

"Ace!" He exclaimed with a face full of relief and happiness.

* * *

**The brother chase**

* * *

"Ace? Since when did you get back…?" Thatch's face was a mixture of confused and relieved at the same time.

"Just now… what the hell is going on..?" He asked, the shock still displayed very clearly one his face.

He glanced down on his little brother, then back up at Marco, then at Thatch and at last up at Oyaji, desperate for answers.

'_Luffy looks so hurt… what happened to him? What happened while I was gone..?' _Those were the only two questions burning, _eating _Ace up from the inside. The room was silent, but not the pleasant kind of silent. It was tense.

_Way too tense. _

Finally, someone broke the silence.

"Ace, I finally get to see you! I've been looking for you!" Luffy said. Ace found himself confused by those words.

Slowly, he walked forward and bent down sitting in Luffy's eye height. The small teenager seemed rather confused but merely smiled as Ace began talking.

"Luffy, what happened to you? Why are you here..?" Just as Luffy was about to answer, the two of them were interrupted by a third voice.

"You know each other, yoi?" It was Marco's very confused and sudden voice. Ace glanced up and was just about to answer, just as Luffy did it for him.

"I've been trying to tell you! I wanna see Ace, because he's my _big brother, _Shishishishi!" The teenager giggled, though no one else did.

It took 3 seconds in order for the rest of the commanders and Whitebeard to understand precisely what Luffy had just said.

_3… _

Ace glanced down at his little brother. He hadn't told them? Why wouldn't he just have told them, it wasn't like it was a secret or anything…

_2… _

All 3 of the other men glanced at each other, speechless.

_1… _

The reaction erupted.

"_WHAT?!" _

And there they went. Even Marco, the usually calm and collected person who would help organize and keep control and his cool in even the most stressful and unexpected situations had an expression of utter shock on his face.

Even _Oyaji, _who usually only reacted by small frowns, glances, smiles or laughs seemed to be quite surprised.

"As in, you're _actual _brothers?!" Thatch exclaimed, shook.

Luffy and Ace blinked twice simultaneously before nodding.

"Yeah. Who else did you think I was sending all these letters too?" Ace asked.

"Oh, I don't know, _YOUR PARENTS, YOUR HOME ISLAND, YOUR OLD CREW_!? How were we supposed to know!?" Thatch yelled.

"Why didn't you tell us, yoi?" Marco asked. Ace blinked again.

"You never asked if I had any other siblings," he said. Now it was the other 3 mens' turn to blink simultaneously in realization.

"Oh," both said simultaneously, realizing he was right. No one on the ship usually talked much about their life outside of the Whitebeard pirates, unless they wanted to of course, and they had just thought Ace to be one of those people who didn't _want _to talk about it since he had never mentioned it.

'_God, do I feel stupid…' _Marco thought. Putting two fingers between the bridge of his eyes, he realized what this meant.

'_Crap, how is Ace gonna react once he finds out what the spy- his little brother has done?' _Marco realized, not wanting to be the one to break the ice.

Thatch realized the exact same thing a couple of seconds later. '_That's why the two of them seemed so alike… if they're siblings, then it makes sense… why didn't I think of this earlier?' _The cook thought, scratching the back of his head.

Even though these news had just been revealed to the two Whitebeard pirates and the captains, no one seemed to take notice of what was still bothering Ace the most…

_I have to know. _Ace gathered up enough courage before asking, once again making the room have a grim atmosphere.

"Guys… why is Luffy tied up? Why have I heard that Luffy injured Teach? That's clearly false, right?" Ace asked, expecting immediate answers.

But when they didn't come, neither from the serious and informative Marco or the talkative and honest Thatch, Ace got worried. _Really _worried.

"Guys? Hey, this is all just a misunderstanding... Luffy didn't really hurt anyone, right?" The young-adult uttered, his voice beginning to shake a little more by the second. Realisation was slowly flowing over him.

He was met by a torturing silence… why… why weren't they confirming his claims!? Luffy didn't hurt anyone… Luffy _never _hurt anyone who didn't have bad intentions, that was a 100% confirmed _FACT_!

So why…. why was everyone, even Luffy himself, completely silent!?

The tension in the air was unbearable. Ace's eyes grew wide. No… no, he didn't want to believe it!

"Luffy! Hey Luffy! It's not true, right!? You didn't hurt anyone, you _never _do! Luffy, hey Luffy, say something!" Ace's voice grew more and more desperate by the second, and he began shaking the smaller boy violently.

Luffy's eyes were grim. Ace did not like that, not one bit. The teenager was biting his lip, a signal that they _were, in fact,_ telling the truth. Ace's. Heart. Sank.

"Luffy… no… It's not… it's not true…" Ace said, stopping his violent shaking of the poor boy, who simply lifted his head to reply.

"No, it's true, Ace. I did hurt him," Luffy said, his voice boiling with.. _anger? _Why would Luffy be _angry _about harming another one of his crewmates?

'_This can't be true, this can't be true, this can't be true, this can't be true, this can't be true, this can't be true!' _Ace's mind was twisting and turning itself. Luffy himself had admitted it.

Had he really… had he really hurt Teach? Had Luffy, his loving, sweet, caring, innocent little brother _hurt _his other family? This was like a nightmare come true… Ace couldn't take it, this was too much, he didn't want this, he'd never wanted this why did it have to happen, why-!

"Ace, my son."

It was Oyaji. The voice was comforting and condoling. It was nice, just the tone of voice that Ace needed to calm down. The second division commander turned to see his father's worried face look at him.

Marco and Thatch looked at each other. It seemed he was going to be the one to break the news to Ace about what had happened.

Neither had wanted to do it, so he had stepped up. He truly cared for his sons…

"Listen to me, Ace," the big man started.

And Ace did. He listened. He was calmer now, much calmer. He took a deep breath. He could do this, he just had to stay calm…

Whitebeard continued. "I know this must be hard for you to accept, but he _has _actually hurt Teach… rather horribly…" Whitebeard said, signaling to Marco, who nodded.

"He has a couple of broken bones and he was bleeding pretty badly… he's unconscious, and probably won't wake up in a while, yoi," the first-division commander and head doctor explained.

Ace's eyes widened, but he remained silent.

"We don't know what happened yesterday… apparently, Teach explained that the spy-" Whitebeard stopped himself and glanced down at Ace, who had a crushed expression plastered on his face.

"That _Luffy,_" he corrected, "was apparently going to assassinate Marco-!"

"What!? No, I wasn't! I wasn't gonna hurt _anyone _of Ace's Nakama!" Luffy said, to which he was interrupted by Marco, who still did not seem okay with this situation.

"Hey, watch it! I know you're Ace's brother and everything, but that doesn't change the fact that I _saw _you attack and injure one of our brothers yesterday, yoi!"

Luffy gritted his teeth, looking angry…. but why though?

"Don't call him that!" He yelled, which seemed to surprise all 3 of them.

"That bastard! I attacked him because he doesn't deserve to be in your family!" He yelled, to which all of them visibly angered.

"Why you-!"

"Listen to me! He lied, I wasn't ever gonna hurt anyone! That was until I saw him leaning over Thatch with a _knife. He _was gonna hurt Thatch… I couldn't just let him do that! Not after he looked after me and gave me food!" Luffy exclaimed.

All of the division commanders and even Whitebeard visibly flinched at that. Silence fell upon them…

"Tch, you think I'm honestly gonna believe-!"

"So _that's _what happened..?" The person who had said that was unexpected, at least to Ace. _It was Thatch himself. _

"Thatch?! Why the hell do you say that, do you seriously think he's telling the truth, yoi?" Marco exclaimed, rather harshly.

The 4th division commander nodded softly, much to Ace's surprise.

"I do. It's just as Ace says. I know I've only known him for a couple of hours, but the whole '_a spy who wants to kill several Whitebeard pirates' _ordeal just didn't seem right to me… I never... not _once_ did I feel anything hostile from him…"

"And…" Thatch stopped mid-sentence, having the attention of everyone in the room.

"And..?" Ace asked. The cook breathed in and out, closing his eyes before continuing.

"I've noticed something… Something I always felt was off about Teach," he said. All of the others, except for Luffy that is, flinched.

"Off? How 'Off'?"

...

"Well…"

"It's just… ever since I first stumbled upon the Yami-Yami no mi, he's been awfully clingy about it… you know how the rules. The person who finds a devil fruit gets to keep it, but I haven't eaten it yet. Something just felt off about it, so I still haven't touched it since," the fourth division commander said.

"Yeah, I get that, but still... killing a crewmember for a devil fruit… why would anyone do something like that? Why not just steal it and flee, yoi?" Marco questioned.

"I don't know… but Teach has always been smart. If, I'm saying _if _he actually had something planned, it wouldn't be beyond him to have a plan that reaches out several years, that is planned so carefully that there is a reason for every single action taken…" Thatch said.

No one wanted to admit it. He was right. Thatch was goddamn right, and they knew it. But really, one of the oldest brothers on the ship… a traitor? No, that didn't feel right… but… Luffy wanting to kill him didn't feel right either.

"Why don't you just go look?"

Luffy suddenly interrupted, catching the attention of everyone. "Look? Look where, and for what?" Thatch questioned.

"For the knife and the fruit, of course! When I knocked him over, two things flew out of his hands and landed somewhere in Thatch's room. They should still be there, Shishishi!" Luffy said, to which the three men simply stared in awe.

"That's-!" Marco wanted to exclaim angrily… though when he actually thought about it, it made sense. "Actually a good idea…" he said.

Whitebeard nodded.

"We don't usually go digging around in each other's private things, but I feel that this is an occasion that calls for it," the old man said, no one objecting.

"Thatch, Ace. Go search Thatch's room for the knife and the fruit," he said. The two commanders nodded understandingly.

"Understood, Oyaji," both said, heading out of the room.

Whitebeard turned to his oldest, so to say, son.

"Marco…" he said, his tone of voice more serious than before. The phoenix listened closely. It wasn't often Oyaji got all serious like this.

The old man closed his eyes, went silent for a couple of seconds, and then finally talked.

"I want you to go search Teach's room," he said- no _ordered. _The phoenix flinched, surprised.

"But… Oyaji… Are you sure, yoi?"

Whitebeard nodded.

Now it was Marco who closed his eyes, considering for several seconds. Was this really the right thing to do? After everything they had been through, everything they had experienced…

Marco knew that with a crew as large as theirs that functioned the way it did, there was bound to be tragedies and unhappy endings every once in a while… but still… this was way beyond anything they'd done before.. no one had ever betrayed them.

Whitebeard was a cautious man when it came to picking out his sons. All of them were such a big loving family, he didn't feel like betrayal was really anything that was supposed to happen… not on this ship, not with this captain.

Marco gritted his teeth.

Goddamnit! Why did this situation have to be so complicated!? No matter what happened here, _someone _was gonna end up hurt… Teach being labeled a traitor was something he didn't want beyond anything in the world...

But…

But what? Why was there a '_but' _sitting at the back of his head? What was bothering him? What was off? For once in his life, Marco didn't know.

Sighing once more, the phoenix nodded.

"Understood, Oyaji."

Marco was hesitant when he left the room, but decided not saying or thinking too much about it would be the best approach. He had a room he needed to search, after all.

* * *

**Thatch**

* * *

"We're here," Thatch said, to which Ace simply nodded.

The room was a giant mess.

The hole in the wall reached all the way out to the main deck, and pieces of wood and rubble were scattered all over the floor, wall and even ceiling.

"Wow, Luffy really made a mess of this place," Ace said, Thatch, sensing a small hint of… proudness? in his voice.

Ace had gone on a streak once he was first brought on board, and had destroyed the ship several many, many, many, _many _times. In the end, people had gotten so tired of cleaning up after Ace that they made him rebuild it himself as "punishment." Not like Ace listened much at that point in time, but he _did _end up fixing it after he officially accepted Whitebeard's mark.

Thatch couldn't help but wonder if the two assumptions were connected….

"Well, with this giant mess, searching isn't gonna get easier. C'mon, the earlier we start the better," Thatch implied. Ace nodded, and the two commanders began feeling their way around every single crevice and corner of the room.

There were papers everywhere. Some of the furniture in the room had been tipped over, but it wasn't bad. Thatch didn't have anything irreplaceable or important to him hidden in his room, unlike Ace.

"I'll start over here in this corner, and go the left way around. You do the same, but start in the opposite corner," Ace said. Thatch nodded, agreeing.

There was an awkward silence as they did so. None of them really knew what to say, so they simply kept searching instead of having to awkwardly start a conversation.

_What if it's not here? _Thatch thought. He had made such a big deal out of Luffy actually being correct in this argument… they had been searching for quite a while now, what if nothing turned up?

_What if it proved Luffy was actually guilty? _

Thatch didn't like the thought. In fact, it made his stomach twist and turn, and just feel straight-up _wrong. _He was a kid, _a kid. _Thatch didn't think he could stand watching him get hurt any more than he already had...

Carefully, he glanced over at Ace, who was also desperately searching.

He could only imagine what Ace was going through, considering how _he _felt about Luffy. Thatch had never really had one of his little brothers get framed for something serious, so he didn't quite know how Ace was feeling…

'_He must feel horrible…' _Was all that was going through the cook's head. He frowned and furrowed his brows, his search unconsciously getting slower as the thoughts kept clouding his mind.

'_What are you supposed to do in a situation like this?' _Thatch didn't know. He had never been the best at serious stuff… he was the ship's goofball, prankster, funny-older brother. When it came to fighting enemy ships, he usually didn't need to be that much more serious than his normal self, considering most of the people who attacked them could be considered jokes…

But it was in situations like these where he wished he was able to stay cool like Marco… to be strong like Oyaji… something, _anything._ Anything would be better than being as horrible as he was.

Thatch gritted his teeth.

No! Now wasn't the time to be thinking about stuff like this, he had to find that fruit and knife! For his, Ace _and _Luffy's sake. He owed them as much!

"Thatch!" The call was sudden, but as soon as he heard his name, Thatch turned to the direction Ace had yelled.

The second-division-commander had both hands buried in a pile of rubble, and he looked to have gotten hold of something.

"I think I found it… help me get all of this away!" He said referring to the wood and rubble surrounding both of his hands. _That must be painful... _Thatch thought. The wood was splinting Ace's skin, and the rubble and metal were stabbing his arms.

On top of that, he could see that the blood wasn't running through his arms correctly. This was bad, Ace could pass out if he didn't get his blood to flow properly again.

The logia-user was able to turn into his fire-form in order to escape. He held onto something, and Thatch could see that Ace was desperate to get it out.

"Hang on, I'll have you out in a second!" Thatch said as he began vigorously thrusting materials out of the way. Ace didn't seem to mind the fact that his arms were going cold, but Thatch did.

_Faster, go faster goddamnit! _Thatch thought gritting his teeth.

"Thatch, that's enough, I can get it out now!" Ace exclaimed, leaping backward. He pulled out two objects from the now much smaller pile. Ace dropped the items on the ground, and both landed with a loud _THUD. _

One was made of metal, one was edible.

But that wasn't what caught Thatch's attention…

"Ace! You're bleeding!" The worried commander exclaimed. And true enough. The second division commander seemed to have cut himself on the knife he was pulling out. There was a rather large- _too _large, and deep- _too _deep cut going across the palm of his hand.

_He must've been holding onto that despite feeling that it cut him…! _Thatch realized.

"Ace, come we need to have Marco take a look at that," Thatch said, worried.

"It's fine, I can't even feel it," the second division commander said, twitching only ever so slightly. Thatch knew he was lying, it _did _hurt.

"Ace, come on, we don't have time for you playing tough, you're bleeding _a lot,_" Thatch said.

"I know that goddammit!" He snapped back, completely surprising Thatch.

"But do you think I care!? Look! We found the devil fruit and the knife! You know what this means, right!?" Ace yelled. Thatch looked down onto the floor where blood was dripping down.

He saw the two objects lying on the floor. He was right. It was the devil fruit and the knife. _It's just like Luffy said…. _Thatch thought, realization slowly spreading.

"He was telling the truth…" Thatch said, to which Ace nodded.

"We have to hurry back to Oyaji and show these… Luffy was telling the truth… that means… that means that Teach…" Ace said.

And as Ace did, Thatch realized what he meant. Crap, he was right. If Luffy was telling the truth, then that meant-!

"Let's go," Thatch said determined, cutting off his own line of thought. Ace nodded and leaned down, about to pick up the devil fruit. Thatch snatched it from him before he was able to though.

"But _you're _going to the infirmary. We don't need two people to carry a single fruit and a knife, after all."

* * *

**Marco**

* * *

"It's so dark in here, yoi…" The first division commander uttered quietly.

Teach's room was surprisingly average, considering how much of a respected member of the crew he was. Bookshelves, a bed, a desk, a closet aaaaand… not really anything more?

Most people on the crew had some kinds of personal belongings with them. A photo, a letter, a shirt, a painting, _something. _Teach's room had _nothing. _Plus, there was something strange about it.

It was dark. There was even a window in the room and everything, but it had been blacked out by some pieces of cardboard and the curtains...

The only light Marco could spot in the room was an unlit candle sitting on the desk. This was strange, Marco seemed to remember that they had gotten lights built into every single room when the ship had first been built…

He shrugged it off. It was daytime, and a little bit of sunshine _did _manage to make its way into the room, so seeing wasn't impossible. Marco sighed. Where was he supposed to look?

'_I guess the closets, cabinets, and drawers would be a good place to start…' _

The drawers in the desk and at the nightstand were either empty or full of useless personal garbage that didn't really matter.

Though, _one _of the drawers in the desk was locked…

_That's strange… _ The phoenix thought, walking towards the overly large closet, the next place he has decided to search. But as expected, there was nothing to find except for spare clothing.

_Wait, what's this? _Marco thought as something at the _very _back of the closet caught his attention. It looked to be… a small hatch? There was a tiny space behind of Teach's over large clothing.

_I don't remember there being any secret cabinets built into the walls… _The phoenix thought.

That was the first time Marco got an eerie feeling in his stomach. Something felt _off, _and he felt that now.

Carefully, the first division commander opened the small door. _It's not locked? _He thought, suspicious. Ah well, that only worked out for him.

The cabinet was tiny, though very handy. There was only _one _item inside of there. A key.

Carefully, Marco picked it up and examined it before looking back over at the desk. '_Doesn't take a genius to figure out what this unlocks, yoi,' _the phoenix thought, walking back over to the desk.

He put the newly found key inside of the lock for the locked drawer, and what do you know, it fit like a glove. The key went in smoothly. Hesitant, Marco stopped. The bad feeling he had gotten before got worse. But why though?

Was there really anything so horrible in this drawer that it would shock or scare him so deeply that he should be _afraid _to open it? Marco shook his head.

No, of course, there wasn't… right?

Carefully, he turned the key around. It answered him by turning smoothly and confirming that the drawer had been opening with a satisfying little _click. _

The drawer was nothing unusual. Neither was what was on the inside.

'_A….. book?' _Marco thought, raising an eyebrow. He put the key down and examined the book closer. It was old, several years at least. _He must've used this book a lot, yoi… _Marco thought, carefully flipping onto the first page.

And the moment he did, his heart _sank. _

"What…. what _is _this…?" Marco found himself too shocked to react. His face was blank, he was sweating, his heart was accelerating.

It was disturbing, _really _disturbing.

As Marco flipped further and further into the book, it only got worse and worse and worse.

His throat got sore, his hands were twitching.

'_This is unthinkable… I can't believe this, yoi!' _Marco thought, all of a sudden getting really, _really _fuming. It was exactly as the kid had said.

Teach had been planning to kill Thatch today- well, yesterday. Planning to make Ace so angry that he would come after him, to gain the position as a warlord, to start a _war _with the Whitebeard pirates…!

And…

Marco couldn't believe the last part he was reading….

"_Kill Whitebeard." _

The anger was uncontrollable. How dared he, how _DARED HE. _Did it mean _nothing _to him? He had been planning to betray them for so long now… several years… _Never once thought of them as family… _

It was sickening.

_That bastard, that BASTARD! _Marco was madder than ever before, his vision grew _RED. _How unforgivable…

The bastard had been planning to strike _tonight. _And if it hadn't been for the brat- for _Luffy, _he would've succeeded. The thought made Marco want to throw up. Couldn't he even protect his family?

If Luffy hadn't _saved _them- _hurt _Teach, what the hell would've become of his family?

Marco didn't like the thought, not one bit whatsoever. He knew the truth now. Oyaji had been right to trust him, to be suspicious of Teach.

'_I'll kill him. I'll f*ing _kill _him,' _the phoenix thought, standing up and basically _bursting _out through the door. The bastard would _pay. _

Marco saw red.

He was known on deck for being a terrifying monster not hesitant to teach anyone a lesson. But this anger was different. Much, _much _different. He was fuming.

"That bastard, THAT BASTARD!" Marco yelled, loudly. People noticed, and people stared. Though no one was brave enough to dare even go near him. The first division commander looked ready to kill.

"_...Marco…..!" _

The call was distant and quiet, and Marco was way to caught up in thought to even notice it. All other sounds were currently blocked from his mind. All that mattered was one thing. _Making. Teach. PAY._

"_Marco!" _The call sounded closer this time, though it still sounded so distant the fuming commander did not notice.

Footsteps. Loud, fast-paced footsteps were heard behind him.

'_You've gotta be kidding me. I don't have to for this crap, yoi! Not now!' _Marco kept storming off, hoping that his persuaders would just give it up already. Couldn't they see he was _not _in the mood to chat right now?

"Marco!" The voice was close, way too close. Marco's face twisted in anger. WHO THE HELL HAD INTERRUPTED HIM!?

"MARCO!" Just as Marco prepared to turn around, reading a punch at whoever had _dared _follow him, he noticed something dripping from the palm of the person who had stopped him.

_Blood…? _

The redness began disappearing from Marco's vision…

It was Ace, Ace had called out for him… Oh god, wait a second… what in the hell was he doing? And why..why-!?

"Ace, why are you bleeding, yoi?!" Marco exclaimed, his anger being overtaken with concern for his younger brother. _This cut is deep, and Ace isn't vaccinated! Goddamnit, he should've come to me, he's gonna get an infection-!_

"Marco," Ace said firmly, cutting him off. It was his turn to be calm and rational right now. As Marco realized that's what Ace was doing, he finally calmed down more himself.

This wasn't like him, not at all. He was supposed to always keep a cool head, even in life or death situations… deep breaths. Marco took a deep breath before finally looking at Ace with more normal-looking eyes.

"You found out as well then? Luffy was telling the truth, I knew it…. he never lies, _never…_" Ace took a small break before continuing his sentence," but still… I can't believe Teach was really gonna kill Thatch," Ace said, his voice also showing signs of anger. Marco nodded vividly.

"Not enough with that, the bastard was planning to tear our entire family apart, yoi. He was gonna take advantage of you and start a war with the marines, killing Oyaji and stealing his fruit by doing so, yoi," the first division commander said, to which Ace visibly tensed.

"That bastard, he's even worse than I thought… I can't believe I trusted him like that! He's in my division goddamnit, how come I didn't notice anything!?" Ace yelled furiously. Marco nodded.

"I get how you feel. He tricked all of us, not only you, yoi. I feel furious too, but what's done is done… We can't change that… But what we _can _change, is what we do next, yoi," Marco exclaimed.

Ace nodded.

"We have to make sure everyone knows… they have to know that bastard's true colors," Ace said.

"We have all the proof we need. We know what really happened now, yoi." Marco exclaimed.

"All that's left to do is expose that bastard and declare Luffy innocent!" Ace yelled, determined. Marco glanced up and down Ace's arms, before looking the pirates into the eyes with his 'strict-doctor eyes'.

"And get you treated, yoi," he said.

* * *

**Straw hat pirates**

* * *

The sun was shining brightly. It was early noon, and everything was _almost _normal on the Thousand Sunny Go. Franky and Usopp doing their thing in the workshop, Nami and Robin sunbathing, Zoro off training somewhere, Chopper in his office prepping medicine, Sanji busy in the kitchen and Brook…!

Reading the news.

Wait a moment…. something was off… very, _very _off. The skeleton did _not _look pleased with whatever he read… he was sweating, and his large jaw was dropped all the way down.

"E-EVERYONE! EVERYONE, THERE'S NEWS!" He yelled out, a tone of panic in his voice.

His yell immediately caught the attention of everyone on board. Even Zoro, who was _quite _the heavy sleeper awoke from his nap to see what the commotion was all about.

"What is it, Brook!? Has something happened!?" Usopp yelled out, worry and sweat plastered on his face.

"Yeah, tell us, what is it?!" Nami yelled out.

"I-it's terrible! Something has happened to Luffy-san!" He yelled out, making everyone visibly flinch.

"Hold on, there's news on Luffy!?" Zoro exclaimed, eyes wide. Brook nodded vigorously.

"Well? Don't leave us hanging, what does it say?" Robin asked calmer and firmer, though clearly just as curious as anyone else.

"L-Luffy was…" Brook stuttered.

_The tension in the air was killing everyone. _

What had their _beloved _captain done _this time_? What had he gotten himself into? Was there any clue as to where he was? Who was involved? How many people were hurt?

"_CAPTURED!_" Brook suddenly yelled.

"..."

"..."

It took several seconds for everyone to realize what their skeleton musician had just said… _Captured…? Who..? Luffy? _

"..."

_LUFFY HAD BEEN CAPTURED!?_

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHH!?" The sunny practically _jumped, _and every single crew member's jaw dropped to the floor.

"Luffy was captured!? By who!?" Nami yelled, a mixture of worry and disappointment in her voice. Everyone was very clearly eager to know the same.

"By…. a Yonko," Brook said, his voice shivering…

If everyone hadn't already been speechless before, they definitely were now… A…. Yonko? As in, one of the 4 mighty rulers of the sea? The 4 _strongest _pirates sailing on the ocean?

Immediate worry began flowing through everyone. If Luffy had been captured by someone _that _powerful, what in the hell was gonna happen to him…?

Death was not a topic often discussed by the Straw Hats, but Yonko were known to be _ruthless. _Bloodthirsty, mighty warriors who were stronger than anyone else… who reigned over a mighty crew, whose Jolly Rogers were all feared in all of the exiting oceans… Luffy had been captured by someone like _that? _

"W-w-w-w-which one…? Which one captured Luffy?" Usopp asked, his voice trembling. Brook didn't seem to answer anymore out of pure shock. Nami grabbed the newspaper for herself and began reading.

"..."

"..."

"...No way…."

"...Guys, this makes no sense…" The orange hair girl exclaimed, her voice now also trembling as well. The others leaned over in anticipation.

"What makes no sense, Nami-swan?" Sanji asked, his tone of voice a lot more calm, though at the same time hesitant than usual. Even the usual pessimistic Sanji seemed worried, and was even sweating a little…

"Luffy was captured…"

A dreadful silence...

"_By Whitebeard," _The girl _finally _managed to say. The ship went silent…. and even more silent…. and even _more _silent.

"Eh!? But- but that makes no sense!" Chopper exclaimed.

"Yeah, it doesn't! I know we haven't officially allianced or anything, but I didn't expect this, especially considering Ace is-" Usopp said, before getting interrupted shortly after.

"His second division commander?" Zoro answered, to which the coward simply nodded.

Robin, Franky, and Brook blinked. Had they missed something? Why did their crew talk as if they were _friends _with _Whitebeard_?

Robin was the first to break the silence.

"Ace? Do you mean fire-fist Ace, commander of his second division? Does he have anything to do with us or a reason we should be allies with Whitebeard?" The raven-haired girl asked confused.

"Oh yeah, I suppose you wouldn't know…" Nami interrupted.

"Know what, if I may ask?" Brook questioned. The other looked at each other before nodding.

"Allow us to explain. Back a little while ago, when we were sailing to the kingdom of Alabasta, we ran into Ace, but all we knew about him at that time was that he was searching for Luffy," the navigator stated.

"It turned out though, that he was looking for that shitty captain for an entirely different reason…" Sanji continued, lighting a cigarette.

"A different reason?" Franky blinked, and so did the other two clueless straw hats.

"Mhm! Get this, you won't believe it but…." Chopper began but didn't finish. He let the tension in the air draw out, before continuing.

"Luffy and Ace are brothers!" The little reindeer said happily and the recollection of the memory.

"Eh?" Robin said, blinking.

"Eurgh?" Franky said, also blinking.

"Eh?" Brook said, also blink- oh wait… he can't blink, 'cause he's a skeleton. (Yohohohohoho!)

"Ah man, those were good times! Ace was such a gentleman, much _unlike _a certain someone we all know…" Nami said, to which the others nodded.

"Wait- hold on, if Luffy and Ace are brothers… then why did they capture him?" Robin asked.

"That's _exactly _why this thing is so weird… we have an ally who's one of Whitebeard's top-ranked division commanders… why would they take Luffy captive? I can't imagine Ace would just sit around and let that happen…." Usopp wondered, his tone of voice sounding surprisingly sad…

"Do you think anything happened to Ace!?" Chopper yelled worried, looking up at Nami from the ground.

"I don't know… if something _has _happened, it's definitely not been on the news.. I would've noticed it straight away.." the informed girl exclaimed.

"But then what do we do? If Luffy is captured and something has happened to Ace, how are we supposed to save him?" Brook asked.

"Hmmmmmm.." All of them said almost simultaneously.

What a dilemma… what were they supposed to do? Just waltz up to _Whitebeard _and explain '_Oh hey, don't mind us, we're just here to take our captain, who has done something in order for you to take him captive, back.'? _Yeah, that would definitely be the end of the Straw hat pirates if they attempted a stunt like that…

Sure, they were a strong crew, but against a _Yonko _and his _entire crew, _they stood no chance…

"Excuse me, but may I propose that we do a trade?" A sudden, feminine voice interrupted. The crew turned to the direction it had come from. It was Robin. And she was grinning, giggling, almost.

"A trade?" Zoro questioned, raising an eyebrow. Robin nodded back.

"Believe me, situations like these are right up my alley. Leave it to me, I guarantee we'll be able to get Luffy back," the archaeologist said.

"Do you have a plan, Robin-chan?" Sanji asked, his eyes turning into hearts. Oh the sexiness of a woman with a plan, it was absolutely irresistible!

The raven-haired woman giggled before nodding.

"Trust me, I know how we'll be able to get Luffy back… we just have to get our hands on a certain item."

* * *

**Luffy**

* * *

Luffy had been sitting in silence alone for a while. Whitebeard had left not too long ago. Apparently, there was an update on Teach's medical condition. Luffy wasn't really sure, nor did he care. For all he knew, the bastard could be dead right now, and he actually wouldn't mind that at all.

Luffy scowled, brows furrowing. How long did he have to sit here and wait? He was getting impatient! Luffy had never been the kind of person good at waiting very long for anything. His average patience span was around 10 seconds, so sitting here felt like _days. _

Luffy groaned, lightly.

His head still hurt a bit, presumably because he had been knocked out earlier. It was nothing he couldn't handle, but he could _really _settle for some good quality meat right around now.

_Meat… _

Ah, just thinking about it made Luffy's mouth water. He didn't know how much time had passed, but he was pretty sure- _certain, _in fact, that it was past breakfast at this point, and he really hadn't eaten very much yesterday. He was _starving, _when was he gonna get something to eat?

Luffy didn't fight, or sleep, or dance, or sing, or do _anything _good at all when he was hungry!

'_If only Sanji was here…' _Luffy thought, a sudden feeling of loneliness…

Hanging here, all alone on an unknown ship made him really miss his crew. He _had _kind of just left them behind on the Sunny without really saying goodbye or giving them a good explanation…

Man, did he miss Sanji's food… Chopper and Usopp's playful and silliness, Zoro's funny comments, Nami's anger (even though he _almost _didn't want to admit it), Brook's cheerful tunes, Franky's _amazing _inventions, and Robin's fascinating stories…

Who knew that being without them for just a couple of days would make him miss them so much?

'_I wonder what they're doing right now…' _The straw-hat captain wondered, staring into the ceiling.

All of a sudden though, his thoughts were interrupted. Interrupted by a sound. A very familiar sound at that.

_Footsteps. _

Curiously, Luffy rose his head in order to see who was heading his way. The footsteps were light and fast… someone not too heavy was running his direction.

The door flew up suddenly, surprising Luffy a little bit…

The bright light from the outside blinded him, but only very shortly. He took a second study whoever it was that had come inside…

For some reason, the person seemed familiar, even though Luffy didn't necessarily recall who they were…

It looked like… a woman?

Whoever this person was, they were wearing a kimono and had their hair up in a fancy updo. Two guns were fastened around the belt, and he had what appeared to be a pair of keys in his hand…

Okay, as the guy came closer, Luffy could make it out, it was a man.

The man silently and efficiently opened up Luffy's cell, not hesitating a moment to unlock the seastone chains bound around his hand. He fiddled with the lock a little because of the darkness though, and Luffy decided that this would be a good moment to start a conversation.

"You look familiar. Where do I know you from?" He asked.

"I'm Izo, commander of the 16th division," he said abruptly, short and firmly. There wasn't any anger directed at him in his voice, nor was there any kind of sympathy or happiness…

Luffy furrowed his brows. He couldn't tell what this guy was thinking.

"Why're you letting me go now? Did Ace and Thatch find anything?" Luffy said, a smile widening on his face.

The 16th division commander nodded, just as he unlocked the last chain going around his left wrist.

"Let's go. Oyaji and the others are expecting us," he said, his tone of voice once again not showing many emotions.

Luffy got up on his feet, very wobbly. His head _stung- _so badly that he had to stop and press the bridge between his eyes.

"Yeah, Marco said you'd most likely suffered some kind of head damage. Let's go, we'll take care of that in a bit," the gun-wielding Okama said.

Luffy nodded after a couple of seconds. Being free from the chains felt _great. _His wrists were completely red and sore, and he had gotten multiple cramps while being tied up. Despite the thumping headache, he truly felt _super _happy to finally be free from the exhausting seastone.

Izo walked pretty quickly- not that Luffy minded or anything- but people were staring and sending them shocked even _disgusted _looks as they walked by. Again, not that Luffy minded, but he couldn't help but wonder why he had been let out if the others still hated him...

"Ignore them, we'll make sure they know what happens later."

Luffy looked up, eyes widening.

"Wait, you figured out what happened!?" The teenager said, a smile of happiness creeping up on his lips. The 16th division commander nodded.

"Apparently so… I don't know what Marco, Ace, and Thatch found out while they went searching, that's why we're going to a meeting…"

There were a couple of seconds of silence before Izo spoke again.

"But to be honest… I don't trust you. Even if you _are _Ace's brother, that doesn't change the fact that you hurt mine. I sure as hell hope they have a good explanation for all of this, or I promise I won't hesitate to kill you for what you've done."

* * *

**The brother chase**

* * *

"Oyaji, I brought him, just like you asked," Izo said, opening the door.

Luffy looked around into the big room. A total of thirteen people (Whitebeard included), were sitting around the _long _table. Most of the faces he didn't recognize and was simply met by an angry frown or scowl.

"Luffy!"

The voice was familiar, and it came from the end of the table. Luffy looked down and immediately smiled, his body filling with relief.

"Ace!"

The small boy ran down, finally being able to greet his brother properly. The second division commander looked at least twice as relieved as Luffy felt, and the moment he was close enough, he threw himself at his big brother and engulfed him in a _relieving _hug.

"I missed you, Ace!" The small boy said, staring directly into the eyes of his older brother.

"Yeah, me too, Luffy. I'm sorry I didn't come and help you sooner," the adult said, a slight feeling of guilt plastered in his voice.

"It's fine, Shishishishi! I don't mind waiting if it's for you, Ace!" Luffy said, as his attention suddenly caught something different…

Something that gave Luffy an unpleasant feeling.

Ace's hands were wrapped in bandages.

"...Ace, what happened to your hands?" Luffy said in a sad tone. He had been fine the last time they had seen each other, which had literally only been a couple of hours. So why were his hands all wrapped up now?

Had something happened while Ace had been searching for evidence to prove him innocent?

Luffy couldn't help but feel a small sense of guilt, for some strange reason. Ace always got hurt for his sake, and he had a feeling that this was one of those instances where he had gotten himself injured because of him…

Luffy looked down onto the floor when his thoughts were suddenly interrupted a hand on his head. Surprised, the little rubber boy looked up and straight onto Ac's face.

_He was smiling. _

"Don't worry about it, Luffy. It's nothing I can't handle, I just got a scratch is all!" The big brother said, encouragingly. And strangely enough, it worked.

Luffy felt better, and couldn't resist letting out a little giggle for himself.

"I'm sorry, but if you two are done having your heartwarming reunion, would you _please _mind explaining what the hell you figured out since you suddenly decided we should let him roam around freely?" Haruta said, pointing fingers at Luffy.

Ace visibly tensed... but said nothing.

He had a point, he didn't know the _truth. _

Ace looked over at Marco and Thatch, nodding before all three of them turned to their fellow commanders and captain.

"Alright. We don't wanna dance around the point, so we're just gonna tell you…" Thatch started.

"These news aren't very pleasant, however, yoi. I'm fairly certain you aren't gonna believe us." The phoenix said, tension and anger building up in his voice.

"All we ask is that you sit and _listen. _You're gonna want to hear this story all the way to the end…." Ace said, glancing up at Nakama.

* * *

**?; The New world**

* * *

The girl clutched the newspaper in her hand tightly. This couldn't be true, these news were _unreal. _

'_Luffy… please be okay…' _The girl silently begged. The ocean surrounding her was clear and calm, and the sky as well. An otherwise beautiful day, had it not been for these horrid news..

Why did he never listen to anything she said?

_Why? _

What had he done to deserve this?

Had he truly done anything so horrible that he would be taken captive? But that just wasn't right! He was merely a kid, after all.

The girl stood several minutes, simply reading the news article over and over and over, letting the words sink in.

_**STRAW HAT LUFFY CAPTURED BY WHITEBEARD**_

_Today while an unfortunate Navy-fleet bypassed the Yonko, Whitebeard's, ship, and engaged in battle, something quite shocking was discovered. The pirate rookie known as Straw hat Luffy, a pirate with a bounty of 300.000.000 Berry, who was the cause for the destruction of the navy base Enies lobby, sat securely locked up in a cell on Whitebeard's ship._

_The fleet was forced to retrieve due to the overpowering nature of Whitebeard and his crew, so more intel had yet to be gathered on this case._

_What does Whitebeard want from this rookie pirate? Is there something secretive going on behind the shadows that we don't know about? Will the Grand Line erupt into chaos, and will Straw hat Luffy survive? All of these have yet to be answered, and the Straw hat pirates appeared to have not yet taken any action towards Whitebeard or his crew._

_Stay updated to potentially get to know more about the matter! _

'Liars…' she thought.

'Whitebeard doesn't do that, something here's not right…. but what?'

Why had Luffy gotten himself captured? The newspaper had a tendency to over-exaggerate things, that much she knew, but going to this length only to get a juicy scoop was something truly on heard of, even if it _was _the newspaper they were talking about.

'_I suppose there's no other way… I'll just have to go and see for myself!' _

It took mere seconds for the girl to get her ship sailing in the right direction.

'_It'll take me a while to get there from my current position…. Oyaji…. Luffy…. Please…'_

'_Both be safe.'_

* * *

**A navy base; the East Blue**

* * *

The man sat quiet- _silently _at the desk. This was ridiculous!

He was supposed to believe, that _the infamous Straw hat Luffy, _had gotten himself captured by an entity as powerful as Whitebeard!? Luffy was careless and an idiot, he knew that much, but he had _never _thought he would get himself into this much trouble so early on…

It hadn't even been a year, after all.

The room was dark, completely dark. The man didn't bother turning the lights on. He was too deep in thought anyway to be worrying about it.

'_Luffy… why, why did you have to get yourself involved with a _Yonko_? Whitebeard is a clever and cautious man, yet he's one of the more gentler out of those 4 monsters. What happened, for things to turn out like this?' _

The man wondered.

'_I have to go. I need answers. This damn article won't give me what I'm looking for, I'll have to go find it myself,' _The man thought, dedication building up in his veins.

All a sudden, soft footsteps and a light knock could be heard on the officer's head.

He growled. He was not in the mood for socializing or being nice right now. No- in fact, quite the opposite. He wanted to _yell, _to _destroy, _to _kill. _

"Who is it?" He growled as unfriendly as possible, hoping to scare the man at the other side of the door away.

"_Sir? It's me, may I come in?" _Sounded a familiar voice. It wasn't scared or hesitant at all. In fact, it was firm, calm and collected.

The navy officer scowled, yelling at the door again.

"Tch, what do you want, Bogart?" He was irritated. Dealing with his pain-in-the-ass right-hand man was not what he needed right now.

"_I read the news, sir. I can imagine how you must be feeling in this situation…" _

Well, frick. Here came the _big long _speech, about how he was supposed to be a navy Vice-admiral, one of the highest-ranked in the marines, who would take his job seriously, who wouldn't let personal stuff get in the way.

_Not what I need right now. _

The man mentally tired to prepare himself for it, but was quite shocked by what came next.

"_So I prepared your private warship so we can go there as soon as possible," _he said, catching him _completely _off guard.

As much as he hated that guy, he had a tendency to always know what he was thinking… seemed like that ability was finally coming in handy here.

The guy stood up from his seat, finally feeling motivated to get the hell up from his chair. After all, he had a Yonko ship to track down.

He opened the door and was greeted by his assistant, Bogart's lovely and calm face.

"We're leaving now," the man said, Bogart nodding immediately, putting his hand to his forehead in obedience.

"_Understood, Garp-san." _

* * *

**The brother chase**

* * *

The room was _tense. _

No one said a word, no one even _moved. _

This was unreal… unthinkable... unforgivable.

Teach had really been a traitor.

The commanders, and even Whitebeard had denied it at first, _wanted _it to be false, tried every possible explanation as to why he would have that notebook, the fruit, the knife, the attack.

But at last, they realized it was hopeless to try and deny the stone-cold fact hitting them right in the head.

_Teach was and always had been a sick-cold hearted bastard, who planned to destroy their families._

There had been a lot of yelling… but everyone came up to the same conclusion, everyone understood the reality of the situation. They simply didn't want to.

Their family had always been so inseparable, so special to _all _of them. To think that one of them could think to- and almost succeeded in destroying their family only for selfish greedy needs.

And he had almost gotten away with it too.

Not only had Teach been literal _milliseconds _away from taking away Thatch's life, but he almost managed to convince them it was someone else's fault. The poor kid had merely snuck on board to talk with his brother, and he had gotten himself involved in _this _mess.

They honestly all felt horrible…

Guilty, for not noticing that someone had plans to ruin what they held dearest… Guilty, for blaming and beating a mere kid, _a kid, _for something that traitorous bastard had done and almost gotten away with… Guilty, for not being there and trusting each other in all of this… had they simply sat down and talked, none of this would have happened.

It was as the commanders and Whitebeard realized that, that they knew they had been wrong.

That Luffy had told the truth, and that it really _had _been one of their own men who had betrayed them.

Though all of this didn't fall easy on the heart…

The air felt suffocating, the room felt small, and _everything _felt so unreal. The atmosphere was unpleasant, and everyone knew the reason why.

That bastard, that bastard, that bastard!

"I can't believe we actually fell for his tricks… I feel so… so-"

"We know, Haruta, we all do," Thatch said, as the small commander glanced around the rooms, Thatch's words were confirmed. Everyone was _furious. _

"The big question is, what do we do now?" Jozu asked, though he received no immediate reply.

"..."

"Well… Teach is still unconscious, am I wrong?" Vista asked looking at Marco, who simply nodded.

"Then… I say we keep him under 24-hour surveillance and deal with him, _permanently, _when he waked up," the commander said.

"Any objections?" The captain asked, though received not as much as a single sound from any of them.

"We will do that, then. Marco, your division will be responsible for that, understood?" The giant captain asked, turning to his first-division commander.

"Understood, yoi," the phoenix simply replied.

"Oyaji, I hope you don't mind if I ask, but what do we do about Luffy?" Ace asked, as all eyes in the room turned to Luffy, who actually didn't mind.

The giant looked to be thinking about his son's question. This was quite a unique situation, to say the least.

"I say we get him back to where he belongs," it came surprisingly from an unexpected individual.

"Namur?" Thatch exclaimed, surprised. The Fishman nodded.

"The kid hasn't done anything wrong. He deserves it as an apology for all that we've put him through… it's the least we can do, isn't it?" The Fishman said.

And to his surprise, everyone nodded.

"Yeah, I would hate to be in his situation only to be thrown off the ship," Izo said, to which there were even more nods.

"Kid, where did you come from? Maybe we could bring you back home?" Fossa offered.

Luffy blinked.

"Me? Ah! I don't know actually!" The straw-hatted boy said panicking.

Everyone else blinked.

"...You don't know? Don't you know what your home island is called? Speed Jiru questioned.

Luffy shook his head to everyone, except Ace's confusion. Speaking of Ace, a couple of seconds passed before the commander interrupted Luffy who was just about to start talking again with hysterical laughter.

"Hahahahahaha! I think you guys misunderstand something! Luffy's not going back to our home island!" The second division commander exclaimed, more laughter escaping his lips.

"But then where is he going if he isn't going to an island?" Haruta asked, really not understanding what was so funny.

As Ace finally calmed down after several seconds, it must've been almost a minute, of laughing, he finally spoke up again.

"Luffy doesn't live on Dawn Island anymore, he has a ship and a crew. He's a pirate, just like me!" Ace exclaimed.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"EH!?"

"You're telling me _that _squirt- "HEY!"- It came from Luffy-" is a pirate!?" Jozu yelled, completely and utterly confused. A kid.. a kid _that _young and pewny was a goddamn _pirate!? _But he was so small and vulnerable! What if ran into some super strong guy!?

_He had to be part of a powerful crew with a powerful captain. _

No way that kid actually knew how to throw a proper punch, his arms and muscles were so scrawny… like… spaghetti or rubber or something!

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Luffy questioned, to which he received no answer.

"...It's nothing."

"Yes, it is! Otherwise, you wouldn't be looking at me like that! C'mon, tell me!" Luffy insisted.

"Just let it go, Luffy," Ace said, already knowing what his fellow commanders were thinking. '_They're wrong though, Luffy isn't weak, not at all… I have a feeling he might surprise them at one point. Hehe, this is gonna be good!'_ Ace thought just as another thought struck him.

"Oh yeah, Luffy? Why are you here? You said you were here to see me... but I have a feeling it's for more than just a friendly visit," Ace said consolingly.

Luffy's eyes widened. He had completely forgotten.

'_Sabo…' _The name ran clearly in his mind, stinging and burning his heart. He was alive, their third brother Sabo was alive!

...So why….

Why couldn't he just get himself to say it already!? Why was it so hard to just say the words; "_Sabo is alive."_?

But then it suddenly hit him….

"_...Do I know you?" _Those words had stung, _crushed _him the moment his so-called brother had said them. Had he really forgotten them so easily, left them and all of their memories behind like it mattered nothing?

Even if he had amnesia, why couldn't he remember either his face or Ace's name? And Ace…. Ace had….

"_Don't forget… August 12." _The day Sabo died was clearly important to Ace… The letter, he still had Sabo's letter. It had been cried on and held many many times, Luffy knew that now that he thought back.

He couldn't get himself to say it. Couldn't get himself to get Ace's hopes back up, only to crush him by finding out that he didn't know who he was. That had happened to Luffy, and Sabo's death clearly still affected Ace a lot.

He couldn't get himself to do it… he just _couldn't. _

"I…. don't remember!" The rubber boy _lied. _God, that felt _horrible. _Luffy's heart had ached the moment he had uttered those false words, but it was worth it. It was worth it for Ace's sake.

Everyone in the room faceplanted, obviously believing his lie.

"You don't remember why you _willingly _walked on board, talked _several _times to us about talking with Ace about something!?" This was such a pain!

"No, wait…. it's possible that he might've forgotten, yoi," Marco exclaimed, to which everyone turned in surprise.

"How come?" Fossa asked curious.

"Oyaji, when you knocked Luffy out, it's very, _very _likely that he suffered a strong concussion to the head, yoi. Forgetting memories isn't uncommon after taking a hit to the head like _that,_" Marco explained but was interrupted shortly- _very shortly _after.

"Hold on, back up for a second… Oyaji _knocked Luffy out_?" A _very _concerned sounding Ace asked, to which Whitebeard could only begin sweating nervously.

"Ah.. yes…. you see… I was under the same impression as everyone else, and I let my anger take over, and I… accidentally may or may not have used my devil fruit powers to knock him unconscious, by smashing his head into the ground…" Whitebeard replied, to which Ace looked _horrified. _

"Oyaji! You could've _killed _him! What were you thinking!?" Ace yelled, angry at his father. Why hadn't Luffy said anything!? Getting beaten by their captain _hurt, _he had lots of personal experience to speak from, so why hadn't he said anything so they could get him treated!?

"Luffy, you should've said something! Oyaji's attacks are really dangerous, you can get really hurt! You seriously need to be more careful!" Ace exclaimed.

'_That's ironic coming from you,' _A certain bread-haired commander thought, not being able to hold in a chuckle.

"Marco!" Ace almost commanded, surprising everyone.

"Go give Luffy a checkup and patch him up. I want nothing left out, understood!?" Ace said in a tone serious, though still rational.

"Wha-!? Ace, I'm fine! It was just a little hit, and I only have a couple of scratches, I don't need-!"

"No excuses! Marco'll take you away once this meeting is over," Ace said, making Luffy frown childishly.

'_Why are they SO alike!?' _Many commanders thought, thinking back to all of the times Ace had pulled the "_It's nothing" _card on them while he was injured….

"Don't worry yourself, Ace. It is my job as the ship's head doctor to treat anyone we welcome after all, yoi."

Ace nodded.

"Oyaji? Anything left to say before you dismiss this meeting?" Ace asked, to which the giant replied with a long drawn out 'Hmmmm.'

"Luffy, from now on, you are hereby an honorary Whitebeard," the captain said, to which many of the division commanders stared surprised.

Luffy simply blinked.

"What does that mean?" He asked obliviously.

"It means he thinks of you as a comrade and someone he wants to protect. But since you aren't _really _part of the family, you'll just be an _honorary Whitebeard pirate, _instead of a real one," Haruta explained, to which Luffy's face lit up.

"Thanks, old man!"

The commanders tensed at this. Usually, they would not allow anyone to call their captain by such disrespectful names. But he _was _a kid… and an honorary Whitebeard….

Fine, they'd let him pass, just this once.

Whitebeard continued talking shortly after.

"Ace, I trust it that you'll be alright with Luffy staying with you after he's done in the infirmary?" Ace nodded, and Whitebeard nodded back," And I trust that you will each tell the truth to your respected divisions, so all of our sons and daughters understand the truth."

All of the commanders nodded.

"Then, that will be it."

_Dismissed._

* * *

**And there you have it! I hope you liked the new chapter, I'm sorry it was late! I realized once I had begun writing that I was missing a lot, but not enough for another chapter, so I had to write it all today after I came home from school.**

**Thanks to all of the amazing people who have reviewed, I am truly grateful!**

**I'LL SAY IT AGAIN:**

**\- From now on, there will be _WEEKLY _updates instead of daily.**

**\- The next chapter will be the first day in _"The 10 days". _**

**_\- _If you want to translate my story into a different language contact me and we'll talk it out!**

**\- _I really hope you enjoyed! A review, follow or favorite would be highly appreciated!_**

**\- Shadow**


	6. Author's note

Hi everyone! I thought I would do a quick author's note to keep you updated on the current situation. Don't worry, this isn't the usual author's note popping up in the middle of the plot, explaining that the story will no longer be continued.

I really just need to explain some future things and the reason why I haven't really been writing or updating the last week.

First of all, I seriously had to reconsider and restructure the layout of major plot points of the story. This was originally gonna be a fanfiction dedicated towards cute Whitebeard pirate moments with Luffy added into the mix. But as I was writing, and reading reviews, I realized I wanted this to be something else, so I had to rearrange and discuss a lot of things.

The plot is still gonna center around Luffy and the Whitbeards, but I also have different plans now. I had to get all of this under control before I could even consider starting to write again.

I was genuinely scared to write and release the next chapter because I realized what people are now expecting, so I had really big doubts about this story, and was _actually _considering quitting, but re-reading most of your reviews made me decide not to! (Thank you for all of those, by the way.)

I hope you will keep on supporting me as much as you already have, since the rest of this story is really gonna be nerve-wracking for me, as I've never written anything that has gotten so popular, and I'm a socially anxious person, so it's hard for me when I feel there's so much pressure from so many people put on my shoulders.

I just wanted to give a quick update. I hope you understand, and I've taken another project on my shoulders (an IRL project), that I also need to dedicate a lot of time on, so updates may come even slower than anticipated. Thank you for reading and understanding! And for those that are curious, I'll try to get the new chapter out by the end of next Sunday, but as mentioned, I'm really busy at the moment! Chiao, dear readers!

_-Shadow_


	7. Chapter 6

**Hey people! New chapter is out, as promised! I don't wanna get your hopes up, but this isn't the _best _chapter ever, but hopefully, it'll do! (Don't worry, I've got a _BIG ONE _planned for the next one...)**

**I might not update next week, but that's because of personal IRL stuff. :3**

**AND ALSO:**** _A big thanks to my awesome sis, Justcallmecookie_, _for helping write the battle scenes in this chappie! _(I suck at them, so it's lucky that I have someone right at my side willing to do them for me! :D)**

**OxO**

**Disclaimer_: _One piece is owned by (Not me), and the anime is owned by (Not me either), so I'm sorry to disappoint if you happen to think that all of this is cannon :(**

_**A review, follow or favorite would be very much appreciated! **_

**OxO**

_**I hope you enjoy this chapter nonetheless! **_

**_(Ps, Thanks to all the people who've reviewed and said such sweet things about my fanfic, (and about not giving up!) - Don't Worry, I'm not planning to in a LONG TIME!_**

* * *

**Unknown Island; The New World**

* * *

The red-haired captain stared out at the ocean.

The sky was clear, the waves were calm and the breeze was mild. An unusually calm day for the craziest of the 6 oceans.

The captain sat still- unmoving, and just let the ocean breeze flow through his locks of crimson-red hair. The newspaper was clutched tightly in his remaining hand. The seagulls screeched. The waves sounded.

The Yonko sat, simply repeating the words written on paper in his mind, which was very disrupted at the moment. What was one supposed to do in a situation such as this? Shanks didn't know, this had never happened before.

Whitebeard and he had what you would call an "equitable" relationship with each other. They weren't friends or allies, but they weren't enemies either. The two Yonko captains had many times before sat together on the same deck drinking sake, much to both of their crews' dismay, but it was at it was.

Whitebeard hadn't gotten involved with Shanks' business, and Shanks hadn't gotten involved with his.

That was how it had always been.

But… what was he supposed to do now? His "ally", had taken a person very important to him captive. Usually, the red-haired captain wouldn't have gotten involved with any business surrounding his anchor, but this- this was _different. _

This wasn't simply another "Straw-hat Luffy destroys (blank), Straw-hat Luffy spotted in (Blank), Straw hat Luffy taking drastic actions towards the world government, Shocking truth discovered about Straw-hat Luffy!"

_No… This was different. _

Shanks was sure that Luffy had been taken captive somewhere before, being a pirate and avoiding that happening at least once is very hard, after all, but this was _Whitebeard, _a _Yonko _such as himself.

Luffy wasn't ready. He wasn't going to be in a while.

It had been 9 months since the Straw-hat captain had first begun appearing in the newspapers. 9 months was not enough time to train and learn about the ocean and its many dangers to even _hope _to stand up to a Yonko.

Shanks knew what they had promised. he wouldn't dare forget.

Luffy was named after the prized possession he had given up so many years ago, after all…

Shanks had decided for himself that he was gonna let Luffy has his own adventure, his own journey… he wouldn't intervene, he had promised himself that… but now…

Now Luffy had gotten involved with another _Yonko, _a person on par with himself- this was too much for Luffy, Shanks knew that.

What should he do?

"Captain?" It came from behind him. Shanks recognized the voice, he would anywhere. After all, it belonged to one of the people who had been with him the longest. _Ben, _his first mate. He always knew how to read the situation and his mood accordingly, one of the many things Shanks acknowledged and respected consistently.

He could hear it in his first mate's voice. He was desperate- worried for Luffy as well. The kid had been a little ray of light that had changed _all _of their lives 10 years ago.

Luffy mattered not only to Shanks but to the entire Red-hair crew.

The first mate was silent, and so was the captain. Shanks closed his eyes and let the ocean breeze flow by, placidity filling him up from the inside, slowly soothing his heartbeat to a calming rate.

As Shanks opened his eyes again, he had made up his mind. It was his decision, after all. He could see- _feel _how eager his crew were to help Luffy, but the final decision was up to him. Whether or not they were gonna persuade Whitebeard- potentially making enemies with him- or stay here and pray for the best, was up to him.

That was his role as captain, one he had always taken fairly serious.

Shanks grunted.

Something was off, very, _very _off. One factor just repeatedly kept coming to mind, nagging his thoughts of why any of this would have happened.

_Ace._

The red-haired captain had met him a little while ago when the boy had still been a captain of his own wanting to take the head of Whitebeard. And as the situation stood right now, that _same exact Ace, _the one who had introduced himself as Luffy's _brother, _was working as Whitebeard's second division commander.

Things simply did not add up.

At the banquet they had had, the boy practically could not stop talking about his _adorable, idiotic, honest, reckless _little brother of his. Shanks felt it when Ace had spoken about him. He really truly cared for Luffy.

But then why… Why was Luffy taken capture by _Ace's _crew? The second-division commander surely never would have allowed it… Unless…

'_Something happened to Ace too.' _The thought was disturbing.

Shanks had come to actually like the hot-headed logia a lot. He had made a silent vow to himself, that he would be watching over him as well from now on. Not that he thought the kid needed it, being a subordinate of Whitebeard and all, but…

If something… If something truly _had _happened to both Ace _and _Luffy, what choice did he really have? He knew what was necessary.

"Ben," the captain suddenly spoke, the first mate listening closely to his captain's words. His voice was utterly serious, something it did not do very often. The people the red-hairs considered friends, all knew that the Yonko was simply a goofball who always nothing more than an excuse to party and drink.

But their enemies also considered him a great- _terrifying _threat. Shanks did not get mad very often, but when he did, either _islands would take inconceivable amounts of damage, _or _blood was going to be spilled. _

Those were the times when the red-hairs knew to follow their captain's orders- to get serious, to show exactly why they were on the crew of a _Yonko. _

Ben knew this, which was exactly why he listened as closely as he did. He did not know what his captain was going to chose, but if it meant going to war with Whitebeard, blood was undoubtedly going to be spilled.

Most of the members of the Whitebeards may not have an advantage in strength, however, in numbers, they did. The Red-Hairs were known for being a rather small crew, an _unnaturally _small crew, especially considering it was the crew of a Yonko.

Compared to Whitebeard- the man whose crew consisted of over 1000 men, the odds were against them. Not so much against them, that victory would prove impossible, but they were against them.

The red-haired captain stood up abruptly, still not giving his first mate as much as a glance. The horizon seemed distant and far, and reality felt out of place. Situations such as these were not Shanks' forté.

"A quick question," Shanks asked, his tone of voice not being any less serious than before. The red-haired captain finally turned and looked at his first mate, the tension and glance between them not breaking for as much as a second.

Ben gave a quick nod as a sign that the captain could ask his question. This was it, this moment would determine their next course of action.

The Yonko's eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes tensed. There was absolute silence before the captain spoke up after several long, treacherous seconds.

"_How long will it take us to get from our current position to the Grand Line?" _

The tension in the air suddenly doubled, Ben, knowing _exactly _what it was his captain wanted. Not hesitating for as much as a second, the first mate answered Shanks. His captain had made a decision, he was neither going to argue nor disagree with him.

"If we're lucky, it'll be a week, captain."

* * *

**The Moby Dick**

* * *

For the last couple of hours, the Moby Dick had been utter and complete chaos.

The division commanders had each (except for Marco) returned to their respective divisions and explained the situation best they could. Of course, nothing good had come from this, but it had been necessary.

Anger, frustration, doubt, rage. All feelings that the Whitebeards had been experiencing and expressing for the last 2 hours. The tension on the ship had never been higher. Whitebeard had let all of his sons be. He understood, he understood why his sons felt the way they did.

One of their own- their eldest had _betrayed _them. Planned to _kill- _planned to _tear their family _apart, and no one had noticed. Had it not been for the _outsider, _their family most probably would've.

The mere thought made many members want to rush over and simply kill Teach right then and there.

The second division especially. Ace himself was having a hard time keeping his head _somewhat _cool, the thoughts of Teach's betrayal also _consuming _him from the inside. One of their own. One of the own _trusted _members had done this…

Many had demanded to see the bastard, to personally go give him a beating, to kill him, to forever banish him from their family… But Teach was hidden. The commanders had all hidden him in a place only they knew and had access to, so many commanders had let their subordinates take out their anger on other things, or try to help calm them or show sympathy.

After around 2 hours, things _finally _began dying down again, and people were coming to their senses.

That's not to say that people weren't angry anymore- oh no, they were _DEFINITELY _still very much _very _angry, but people appeared to at least be able to contain- to be able to hold back their anger a little more than they had before.

And as this realization came over everyone in the crew, another thing also became clear. They had hurt- wished _death _upon an innocent _kid. _A kid, which also happened to be one of their most beloved member's _actual little brother. _The guilt was unbearable.

The Whitebeards were by no means a cruel pirate crew.

Unlike the other Yonkos, maybe except for a certain red-haired softie, the Whitebeards didn't seek power, fame, and fear. All they wanted was a place to belong, to protect and cherish the people they all called family.

By no means did they _ever _want to hurt the innocent. In fact- hurting other people was a rather rare occurrence. Unless someone badmouthed, or had the guts to actually _hurt _one of their own -or other innocent people, the Whitebeards usually didn't get themselves involved in situations that could lead to further complications.

That was why so many of them felt horrible, absolutely _horrible _about what they had done to that modest _kid. Luffy. _

Though once again, Luffy's current whereabouts were kept hidden to everyone but the commanders. He was currently being treated, after all. And if the commanders had learned one thing from the many years that Marco had been their head doctor, it was to let him examine his patients in _peace. _

* * *

**Luffy**

* * *

"I'm telling you, it's fine, it doesn't hurt anymore!"

The teenager whined. This was the worst! Marco was a really good, but really really annoying doctor! He kept telling him that he couldn't get up and move around, but he was really fine! He'd experienced much worse before, and he also tried to convince the phoenix of that, but he wouldn't listen.

"And I keep telling you that I'm not gonna listen to that reasoning, yoi! I'm the head doctor of a pirate ship, you think I haven't dealt with difficult people before? You're just as persistent as Ace when it comes to admitting you're hurt, yoi," the phoenix said, sighing heavily. A clear tone of tiredness could be heard in his voice.

They had been going like this for the past hour after Marco had given Luffy some pain-relieving medication.

That being said though, the kid very clearly _was _hurt. Luffy had a bad concussion, something that under any circumstance, should not be taken lightly, and Marco knew that better than anyone else on board.

The phoenix sighed once again, the headache only increasing more by the second.

"Anyway, when're we done? I'm tired of lying down, and I'm hungry!" The small boy yammered. Marco cast him a glance, before once again answering in a calm tone of voice.

"We're just about finished… But you're not going anywhere, yoi."

"Wha-!? Why!?" The teenager sulked, Marco almost not even bothering anymore. He had told him so many times already!

"_Because, _yoi, you need to _rest. _And if you don't do so soon, I will _make _you," Marco exclaimed, putting on his "scary doctor" voice. He wasn't actually gonna do anything to the kid, just give him some sleep medication. His body needed rest and fluids, and if he wasn't going to do it willingly, Marco had _plenty _of ways to make him get it.

Luffy visible gulped, clearly feeling the intensity of Marco's voice. But resting was _so _boring!

"Can I at least get some food? I'm _starving_!" Luffy yelled, to which Marco simply nodded.

"I'll make sure Thatch gets some for you, yoi," the phoenix exclaimed, to which Luffy's expression _lit up _adorably. Marco couldn't suppress a smile at the precious "Thanks!" that came after, followed by a wide grin.

Suddenly, however, a soft knock came from the door. Marco glanced over, slightly confused. Who would come here before he had announced that he was finished?

"Come in," the phoenix said neutrally. And to his surprise, the figure that stepped inside the door was a tall and calm one. _It was Whitebeard. _

"Oyaji?" Marco asked, his tone of voice surprised, though serene. It was clear that the giant had taken some time himself to calm down from the many events that had occurred throughout the night as well. He was a lot calmer now than he had been a few hours prior, and his presence was no longer threatening… in fact, it was almost _calming. _

"Marco, have you finished treating the boy?" Whitebeard asked.

Ah. Another sign that the captain had calmed himself… the "boy" was no longer "brat" or "bastard" for that sake. Whitebeard only spoke that way about people he trusted, about people he _cared _for.

"Yeah, I am. Why do you ask, yoi?" Marco asked, though he already had a good idea as of why.

'_You really are kind, Oyaji… I know exactly why you're here, yoi…' _

"Would you mind giving us some space then, my son? And let us be undisturbed if that would be possible," the captain urged.

"Of course, Oyaji. I'll make sure you can talk in peace, yoi," the phoenix said. And with that, he left, softly closing the door behind him.

Luffy glanced up at the tall man. He was completely different from the big, frightening, intimidating figure from before. Luffy's heartbeat peacefully, and so did Whitebeard's. The silence between them was nice, calming, almost. It lasted for a minute before the Luffy decided to break the ice.

"Whataya want, giant Ossan?" The teenager asked, finally speaking in his normal tone of voice. Whitebeard visibly softened as Luffy spoke, a small smile forming on the giant's fatherly face.

"Gurararara..." the giant gave a quiet chuckle, "good to see you're alright at least, kid," Whitebeard said, to which Luffy scowled.

"I'm not a kid! Why does everyone keep calling me that!? I'm 17! And my names Luffy!" He yelled very serious, to which Whitebeard could not resist laughing yet again. A sudden silence fell over the room. Though this silence was different.

Luffy could see something on the giant's face. There was a glint of something in his eyes, something he clearly wanted to say… but what was it though? Luffy didn't know, he wasn't the best at reading other people… should he ask?

Luffy didn't have to think about that for very long though, as the old man spoke up not many seconds after.

"Brat… about everything that's happened here during the last couple of days…" The man stopped half-sentence, poking at Luffy's curiosity. This seemed to be something very unusual for the Yonko to do. Luffy didn't know why, but he felt as if something very bizarre was about to happen.

The man took what appeared to be a deep breath, and at the moment he opened his mouth, Luffy realized what it was he was doing.

"I truly and deeply from my heart-"

"Don't," Luffy said, completely catching the Yonko off guard. Luffy's facial expression had changed slightly. He was no longer an oblivious child. He knew what the Yonko was trying to do.

He wanted to _apologize. _

Something Luffy, in this case, would absolutely _not _allow.

"I'm sorry?" The captain asked, confused. Why had this kid just stopped him? Had he done something wrong? He didn't think so, but if he had, that was even more reason to bow down his head in shame. He did not like hurting innocent children.

What he had done… was absolutely unforgivable. He had failed, he had failed as a captain and as a father. So then… what had he done for this kid to suddenly interrupt him mid-sentence, that was something he wasn't already going to apologize for?

"I don't want you to apologize," he said, which came as a completely and utter _shock. _He didn't want him to apologize? But what he and his family had done was absolutely _unforgivable. _He wouldn't blame the kid if he just asked to be dropped off at the nearest island, and forever hold a little bit of fear and hatred for their family in his heart.

But this…? What reason did he have for _this_?

"You shouldn't apologize, Ossan. I know why you and everyone else said as you said. I mean, if I was you, I'd get really mad too!" The kid said. Whitebeard simply stared confused. What was he implying…?

"You hit me and said a lot of stuff, but I don't mind. I'm a pirate, after all! I get beaten, and people say mean stuff all of the time, Shishishishi!" Luffy said. Whitebeard understood why Luffy said as such, but that still didn't justify what he had done-

"And besides, I can tell you care…" Luffy said, his tone of voice softening. This caught Whitebeard off guard.

"If you don't mind that I ask…. care about what, exactly?" The giant asked, confused. Luffy kept staring into the floor, his gaze long lost somewhere within thoughts and happy memories.

"About Ace," the black-haired kid said, as everything suddenly slowly began making sense to Whitebeard. Though before he could say anything else, Luffy continued talking.

"Ace always… didn't wanna let people close, if you get what I mean," Luffy said, to which Whitebeard simply nodded. That was in fact true.

The young-adult had been truly persistent when he had first let him on board, completely refusing to even let them _try _to get close to him.

He was like an abandoned cat, not wanting to trust anyone, the cause clearly being because of some past trauma or abandonment.

Whitebeard had gotten his son to open up after a while, but it had taken a _long _time before Ace had dared try to get near them. Whitebeard had always wondered what the reason for this was, though he was not one to pressure his sons into revealing their insecurities or past.

Luffy continued.

"Ace didn't want me at first either," Luffy said, to which Whitebeard was left confused. Didn't _want _him? Weren't they brothers though? Maybe there had been some past family drama or crisis? Whitebeard considered asking, though decided not to.

"He has… a lot of scars. And because of his da-!" Luffy said, stopping himself mid-sentence, "Because of _someone, _he'd always doubt himself and others… he would never let me near strangers, and he always taught me to get my own food, and it also took a while before he wanted to fight with and not against me!" The kid said, stopping himself. Memories were clearly flooding his mind, though Whitebeard had no way of knowing what exactly the kid had meant by his previous statements.

He did not know much about Ace's origin nor his family. In fact, Luffy was the first person from his family he'd ever mentioned. Neither did he know in what kinds of conditions he had grown up in, but from the sounds of it- somewhere with a lack of food, and where knowing self-defense was a must.

"That's why…" Luffy said, snapping Whitebeard out of his train of thought.

"That's why I'm so happy… that Ace finally… he finally…." Luffy seemed to have a hard time finishing his sentence…

The teenager finally glanced up and looked Whitebeard directly in the eyes, before finally finishing his sentence.

"That he finally found a place where he's happy… where he's happy to be alive, Shishishishi!" Luffy said, his chuckle light and soft.

"I can't possibly be mad at you after I know that! You're all really good people, you _have _to be! So there's no reason to apologize, Ossan!" Luffy said, awaiting the giant's answer.

Whitebeard was left speechless.

This guy- this _kid _really felt as such? He knew- he knew that because _Ace _was happy and trusting of them, they were good people? Who even used that kind of logic? They- _he _had _hurt _him, spoken down to him, been so cruel and accused him of so many false things… Yet here he was… refusing an apology, because he could simply _tell _that he liked them?

This was absurd!

Though… Whitebeard didn't mind. Everything the kid had said was true, he could feel it. The kid bad spoken openly and honestly. Whitebeard couldn't resist smiling just as Luffy did, before he finally spoke up.

"Alright then, brat. But I hope you know how we all feel about what happened nonetheless," Whitebeard said, Luffy vividly shaking his head in approval.

Though suddenly, the nice calm atmosphere was broken by a _loud, disturbing _sound. Rumbling.

And it was close, _very _close as well. And it was very, very loud. Whitebeard had been caught so off guard that it took several _long _seconds for him to realize what the cause of the noise had been. It was Luffy. His stomach was growling.

The kid tumbled backward, tongue hanging from his mouth, and hands placed on top of his stomach, which was still rumbling unnaturally loud.

"I'm so hungry~!" Luffy said, his stomach growling in approval.

Whitebeard laughed.

Loudly.

This kid. This kid was something else. He could tell, he had a natural instinct for this.

"I'll leave you and tell Marco to get you some food, kid," Whitebeard said, Luffy's eyes twinkling brighter than a million stars.

"Really!? You mean it?! Thanks, Ossan!" The kid said, already drooling.

The giant stood up, the smile still plastered very widely on his lips. Just as he went for the door, a thought struck him. His natural instinct, the same natural instinct that usually helped him find and recruit many of his sons had just poked at him… should he..

"Hey, kid?" The man said, turning to look at the kid.

"Yea?"

There was once again silence between the two individuals. It was broken relatively shortly after though.

"Would you perhaps want to become-..." Whitebeard stopped mid-sentence. Luffy blinked.

"Become? Become what?" The kid asked obliviously. Whitebeard shook his head. No, now was not the time.

"It's nothing. Be patient, I'll make sure your food is brought shortly," the giant said. A faint "Thanks so much!" could be heard in the background, but Whitebeard paid it no mind and simply walked out the door, suddenly feeling a whole lot better than he had in a _long _time_. _

"Gurararara…" the captain chuckled wholeheartedly. He had a feeling things were only going to get much, much more interesting from here on out.

* * *

**The brother chase**

* * *

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Three words could be used to describe Luffy's current situation.

_He. Was. Bored._

Not too long after Whitebeard had left, Thatch had strolled in with several carts of delicious, delicious food, which Luffy had greatly enjoyed till a point where he was so full he couldn't force down another bite, Marco had declared that he needed rest, and had allowed "No visitors," and had left Luffy alone in the room.

It was fine and all at first, but it had been almost… how long had he been stuck in here? No matter how long it was, it felt like _ages. _The small rubber boy did _not _have the patience for this.

'I have to get up and do something! Lying down is so boring, and I'm _fine_! I wanna go fight something, maybe Ossan will let me fight him!' The mere thought made Luffy so happy that he stood up simply out of mere reflex.

He'd get to fight, and he'd get to escape this boring room! Two things that Luffy was in fact very, _very _happy about.

Without _any _hesitation, the small boy leaped towards the door, wanting nothing more than to catch a glimpse of the freedom he had been longing for for so long! There was no one in the room except for him, and there apparently wasn't anyone on the other side of the door either, if he remembered correctly...

Luffy was proven correct as he opened the wooden door, only to be met with an empty- _completely empty _deck. Luffy's tingled a bit from the sudden sunlight, but he didn't mind. A smile widened on his lips.

The ocean was so pretty! It was glistening beautifully in the sun. Luffy had seen it a million times before, but he didn't think he was ever going to get tired of it. Abruptly, he sped up into a sprint. He was free! Free from hell!

'Now only to find someone I can fight, shishishishi!' The boy giggled innerly, not being able to resist a smile forming on his lips. There were no people, as in absolutely _no _people around.

This sucked. That meant he wasn't gonna run into anyone who would fight him right now-!

Just as Luffy thought that, a figure walked into view. Even better, it was a _familiar _figure. A very _very _familiar figure. Luffy grinned. This was a golden opportunity that was not to be wasted.

"Aaaaace! Spar with me, right now!" Luffy yelled, still running towards his older brother. The man had been walking with his head down prior to Luffy's yell. He looked to have been thinking about something, but Luffy didn't care. He wanted to fight, and Ace was the perfect partner! Maybe now, he could _finally _beat him!

Ace didn't seem to catch on that quickly though.

"Wha- Luffy, where did you-!?"

"Take that, Ace!" Ace almost didn't register the fist coming at him at an incredible speed. He managed to jump up into the air in time for the punch to just fly past him, hitting the wall. Ace turned hastily to his little brother, who was grinning cheekily.

As Ace realized what had just happened, a grin spread on his lips as well.

"Oh, you're gonna get it now, Luffy!" The logia yelled, getting into a battle stance.

"You better be ready Ace! I've gotten a lot stronger since when we were kids… I could even beat you now!" Luffy yelled back also preparing for the upcoming match by getting into his signature fighting position.

"Oh? Is that so… then show me what you've got!" The big brother said cockily.

Luffy wasted no more time after this and stretched his arm far backward, clenching his fist, now ready to hit Ace with his signature attack….

"Gomu Gomu no, pistol!" The small rubber boy exclaimed propelling forward his fist.

While the attempt was admirable, Ace still managed to see it coming from a mile away… after all, it was Luffy's very first attack, one that he had used countless times when they had spared in the past.

Ace dodged by jumping into the air, made a couple of backflips, and then proceeded to land elegantly on the Moby Dick's railing.

"Is that all you've got? I thought you said you had gotten stronger." Ace's voice was overflowing with cockiness and confidence, just like it always did when he and Luffy had fought as kids.

"Just wait and see! Today's gonna be the day I beat you Ace!"

And with those words, Luffy thrusted his foot back, this time going for a kick instead of a punch.

"Gomu Gomu no… MUCHI!" Luffy shouted, swinging his leg with incredibly speed at Ace who was still sitting atop the railing.

This, however, was still not enough to catch the fire-logia user off guard, and only caused the confident smile of his lips to get even bigger.

He jumped into the air while dodging yet again, though this time, he was headed straight for Luffy.

Ace landed right atop Luffy's shoulders, seeming to have to trouble whatsoever with keeping his balance, though he, intentionally of course, let himself _just_ miss bumping directly into Luffy, and instead, managed to squish his rubbery head in between his feet while flying by.

Ace, however, kept flying, and with Luffy's head now in a tight lock, landed in a handstand before using the muscles in his muscular legs to _throw_ Luffy's entire body towards the main deck.

Luffy yelped as he was flung through the air, and onto the main deck, though remained in the air.

Luffy couldn't even see where he was going, since he was flying backward, though luckily for him, something, or rather _someone_ was standing perfectly in position to soften his landing.

The impact happened so suddenly that the other person barely had time to register what was even going on. The two individuals tumbled across the floor, before eventually coming to stop.

Thatch glanced up very, _very _confused.

"Ow… what the-!? _Luffy!?_!" The cook exclaimed surprised. The kid was lying on top of him, and had apparently just come _flying from the sky _and crash-landed straight into him. Not that it hurt that much, but this was _certainly _a surprise, to say the least.

"Oh! It's Thatch, Shishishishsi! Thanks for taking my fall!" The kid said, Thatch still too confused to give him a proper answer. What? When? Who? Where? How? Wasn't Luffy supposed to still be in the infirmary? And-

"_Luffy! Are you running away!? We're not finished yet!" _

The yell came from the other direction, and the voice was very, _very _familiar. He wasn't angry, more like playful… which was weird, considering… well… technically it wasn't, but-

'_Ace?' _

He glanced in the direction on the yell, and was confirmed in his theory. It was Ace, Ace was chasing Luffy. But why? What happened?

"I'm not, Ace! Sorry Thatch, I've gotta go, thanks again!" And just like that, the kid leaped away and back towards his brother. The world was spinning around him. Thatch could confidently say that he had never been as confused as he currently was.

_What the _HELL _just happened?_

"You okay, commander Thatch?" A subordinate asked, leaning over him. Thatch's brain took a couple of seconds to register the current situation, but as it did, he replied. "Oh! Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry… what exactly is going on?" The cook asked, completely and utterly clueless.

"Well… It seems that commander Ace and the other kid are sparring…" He answered.

Thatch immediately shot up from the ground.

Sparring? Luffy? Luffy sparring with Ace, brother against brother? Now, this he _had _to see. The deck was crowded, but the fighting could clearly be seen. People were cheering from left and right, and as Thatch pushed his way up through the crowd, he could finally see the fight clearly.

Luffy and Ace were standing face to face, only a few meters in between them.

The pair of brothers were completely ignoring the crowd that had gathered to watch their fight, although everyone pretty much knew the outcome already…

Ace was a division commander of the _Whitebeard pirates_…. Luffy _was_ just a kid after all, but the question of how much of a fight he would be able to put of still remained.

None of the two said anything, but Luffy soon broke the silence that had appeared.

"Alrighty then Ace, I won't go easy on you anymore! Get ready!" He exclaimed, suddenly setting into a _surprisingly_ fast running paste charging at Ace with no intention of stopping.

Suddenly, however, much to all the spectators' shock, Luffy trusted his arm back as it suddenly _stretched _far beyond what was natural… something which should definitely _not_ be possible for any ordinary human being.

There was, of course, only one possible explanation for how this could be possible… a devil fruit…

It wasn't that any of the Whitebeards had never seen anything as crazy as a person stretching… heck! They'd seen the most outrageous and unbelievable things any ordinary human would only believe to be myths…

It was only the shock of it happening to suddenly that caught everyone off guard… nobody had expected that kid to wield any powers... that's why they were all staring with absolute shock plastered all over their faces.

Luffy, completely ignoring the stares he was getting, continued on with his attack.

"Gomu Gomu no, Bullet!" Luffy exclaimed, finally launching his arm at Ace as such close range his brother hopefully wouldn't be able to dodge in time.

Ace, however, was still smiling cockily… his little brother most definitely _had_ gotten stronger over the past years, though still nowhere close as strong as him!

He sprang into the air once again, even the close distance between him and Luffy making no distance, causing Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Bullet to miss yet again.

The raven-haired division commander sprang over Luffy and turned around mid-air so he wouldn't turn his back on his little brother, and then landed in a kneeling position as he slid back across the wooden deck a little from the force of his jump.

"That all you got? I thought you weren't gonna go easy on me or something," Ace grinned.

"Dammit…" Luffy whispered quite annoyed.

"Hey, kid! That's a devil fruit power, right! Which one do you have!?" It came from the sidelines. Luffy was caught somewhat off guard, but grinned as he _proudly _answered the question.

"I ate the Gomu Gomu no mi! I'm a rubberman!" The kid yelled excited.

The Whitebeard clearly didn't see the coolness in that though, and simply just stared with blank expressions.

"Man, that'so lame…"

"SHUT UP!" Luffy yelled, very very offended! How dare they call his devil fruit lame!? Did they not see the awesomeness that was his Gomu Gomu powers?! Oh, he would show them! They were gonna get it now!

"Heh," came a small sudden cocky grin from Luffy.

_Alright… it was about time he stopped playing around and showed Ace how _truly _powerful he had gotten!_

"Hm? Why the sudden confidence?" Ace asked sounding just a little suspicious of what his crazy unpredictable brother might have up his sleeve this time…

"Heh, you'll see Ace…" Luffy said, suddenly changing into a position Ace had never seen before…

It most certainly didn't look like a fighting stance, way too impractical…. so then why...?

"…"

"…"

... Wait… what was happening now?

Steam… steam began rising from Luffy's body.

Ace furrowed his brows in confusion… why was Luffy's body emanating steam? As far as he was aware, a rubber devil fruit shouldn't give the ability to do something like that…

Luffy slowly lifted up his head, smiling even more cheekily than when their sparring match had first begun.

"Gear… second!" He said, much to Ace's confusion.

Luffy didn't give Ace much opportunity to try and understand what the hell was happening, and then suddenly _disappeared_ in a burst of speed…

This shocking phenomenon was enough to lower Ace's guard…

Luffy, not even a second later, appeared _right_ beside Ace, and tried punching him directly on the cheek….

Ace still, though probably in the very last millisecond, tilted his head enough for Luffy's fist to miss its target, though sweat of nervousness still appeared on Ace's shook face.

After, somehow, avoiding his little brother's last attack, the bigger brother jumped back a couple of meters for safety, the surprise from his _dramatic_ increase in speed still slightly overwhelming him.

"That was too close…" he whispered to make sure Luffy wouldn't hear his nervous voice…

"OI Luffy! What the hell was that!? How is steam rising from your body, and how's it making you so fast!?" Ace shouted demanding an answer.

Luffy was still grinning…. _yes_! Even _Ace_ couldn't deny the speed of his gear second was impressive!

"By stomping my feet, I can make my blood flow faster! It makes me go really really fast, though the downside is I get really hungry afterward too!" Luffy exclaimed proudly, grinning even wider as he did so.

As Luffy, Ace's precious little brother had shouted those words, an alarm inside Ace's mind immediately began ringing like crazy…

_Accelerating his blood flow to move faster? How…. how in the world had Luffy figured something so complicated out on his own? Tough more importantly, why was he using something so…. dangerous?_

His body was made of rubber… by pumping his legs, sure his blood would forcefully start flowing faster, which would also send more oxygen and nutrients to his body part, explaining his sudden boost in speed, but…

Surely… surely that technique was also taking a great toll of Luffy's body… something so dangerous and reckless could lead to him losing _lifespan_!

Ace was just about to yell out to his reckless little brother, but it appeared that someone else was already doing that…

"LuuuuuUUUUUFFY! AaaAACE! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOI!?" Ace and Luffy froze on the spot.

'_That's… unmistakably Marco… that little 'yoi' at the end of the sentence couldn't belong to anyone else! He's mad… CRAP!' _Ace did not have time to think any further than that, before a flash of blue and purple shot past both him and Luffy, immediately stopping them in their tracks.

Ace felt the impact from the haki covered fist hit his head, and Luffy was knocked to the ground as well… he was mad. _Really, really mad. _

"You're supposed to be _resting, _yoi! What the hell are you doing out of bed, Luffy!?" The first-division commander yelled, furious. Luffy shivered. This guy was scary. Very, _very _scary.

"I-it was so boring! And I'm fine anyway! I had to get up and fight someone, so-!"

"No excuses, yoi!" The phoenix exclaimed madly, Luffy not daring speak up again. He was sitting properly on the ground, sweat dripping down his forehead in large chunks. Marco was really really scary!

"And you, Ace! What the hell made you think it was a good idea to _fight _with an injured person, yoi?" Marco said, disappointed. In comparison to Luffy, the first-division commander knew Ace very well. This was not unlike him, though still something he deserved a scolding for.

"I-it's not my fault Marco, I swear! It was Luffy who jumped at me first! He started it!" Ace said, pointing fingers.

"Wha-!? That's unfair, Ace! I didn't start it, it was just you who actually fought me!" Luffy yelled.

"You so did!"

"Did not!"

"Did!"

"Did not!"

"Did!"

"Did not!"

Marco popped a vein. What were they? _Children_? He would very much like to think so, with how they were acting right now.

"Would you two…." The phoenix began, once again getting the attention of the two frightened brothers.

"_SHUT UP, YOI!?"_ Marco yelled.

* * *

**Ace**

* * *

In the end, both he and Luffy had received quite the lecture.

It was evening- _night _to be exact, and he was lying in his larger than average, comfy bed. Being a division commander really did have its perks. When Ace had first arrived, he had slept either in a closet, on the floor or not at all. Having a king-sized bed with fire-proof bed sheets was certainly an upgrade, to say the least.

Ace stared in the ceiling, awake.

So much had happened during the last couple of days. The infiltration, the attack, the notice, the arrival, the realization, the search, the recovery….. things were usually lively on the Moby Dick, though it wasn't often that this much would happen in such a short amount of time.

Dinner had been a fun experience as well, to say the least.

Ace and Luffy had eaten like never before, earning many grossed out and even concerned looks from the crewmembers surrounding them. Though it was fine, for the two D brothers, this was perfectly normal.

Luffy had also proven to be quite the entertainer, jumping up onto to table happily getting everyone to sing along on "Bink's sake", as well as telling many fun stories of the surprisingly large amount of islands he had already visited.

It also seemed that the other crewmembers had taken a liking to the "kid", or "squirt", "shortie", "brat", as they put it, much to Luffy's dismay.

Luffy had not only earned the respect of many crewmembers, but also a whole handful of nicknames that the rubber captain did not seem to enjoy one bit.

Luffy had also made the grave mistake of calling Haruta, commander of 12th division "short". Everyone on board knew, that that was a line that one did not cross.

The brunette had chased Luffy all around the dining hall, until Luffy was caught so off guard that he ran into Whitebeard's oversized sake-cup, ending up completely drenched. Everyone had laughed and made fun of him for several hours for that.

Ace smiled at the recollection.

Marco had demanded that Luffy get some rest, so Ace and Luffy had turned in, sharing Ace's room.

Soft snoring came from his left side.

Luffy was lying, already fast asleep. Ace didn't blame him. The last couple of days had been crazy, for Luffy especially. Ace was happy to see his little brother again. Very happy in fact, but… something… something was _off _to him.

It wasn't that he doubted that this was the real Luffy- oh no, it _definitely _was, but something felt off- _wrong _about him.

Like there was something burdening his heart, something he wasn't saying.

Ace's brow furrowed at the thought.

No… Luffy didn't lie, he had never been able to. Not once. Not to him, not to Dadan, not to Makino, not to the old fart, not to Sa-

Ace mentally cussed.

Dammit, he had almost thought of _him _again. _Sabo… _The memories with him were painful, _extremely _painful to Ace. Half of his world had gone crashing down when Sabo di-... he couldn't get himself to say it.

Damn it…

Ace hated himself. He hated himself for not being over it already, for not accepting that Sabo was _dead. _There was nothing he could do, nothing he could ever dream of doing could bring him back. Ace knew that, so the only thing he could do was be strong. Be strong for Luffy's sake.

Make sure Luffy didn't suffer as he did.

And he had been… he had really been strong for Luffy. Tried his best, done everything he could in the last couple of years. And after a while, it paid off. Luffy returned to normal, and the two of them learned to adapt to their new life.

So what… what was it?

What was holding Luffy back, what was burdening him? Did Luffy not trust him enough to tell him?

Ace put a hand on Luffy's hair, stroking it carefully. He was so small and precious… several years had passed, but Luffy hadn't changed. Not one bit. This kept bugging Ace. Had something happened to Luffy? Had anyone done anything to him? Had someone _hurt _him? Ace clutched his teeth.

The mere thought made his blood boil.

He swore…

If anyone… _Anyone _had _dared _hurt _his _baby brother in a way that affected him this much…

_Someone was going to pay. _

Ace shook off the thought for now. He needed sleep too. He glanced over at Luffy one last time, a smile being plastered on the young boy's face…

'_Just as always… you're always smiling, aren't you, Luffy?' _The second-division commander thought, not being able to resist a smile himself.

"Goodnight… Luffy," Ace uttered silently, closing his eyes before finally drifting into unconsciousness himself.

* * *

**There we go! A sweet little 'Not too much action' chappie. As I said before, expect future chapters (the next chapter especially..) to have more action and drama! I have big plans for this story, so don't worry.**

**And for all of those who asked about Shanks, I didn't really know if I should add him into the book, considering I already have three groups of people coming for Luffy, but a lot of you addressed the issue, so I added him in!**

**I have plans for Sabo as well, don't you worry...**

**Follow the story for future updates! A review, follow or favorite would be much appreciated! PEACE OUT!**

**_\- Shadow_**


	8. Chapter 7

**...Hi? **

**It's um... it's been a while, eh?**

**I'm so sorry I've let you all down with my promise of a new chapter! My life had brought up a lot of... personal issues. I won't say much, but it revolves a lot about worrying about education, some hospital stuff, me worrying about my sis, and school and social life really really _really _stressing me out and making me sick for a while.**

**But here I am, and back with an extra-long chapter to reward you all for your kindness and patience! :D**

**OxO**

**A review, follow or favorite would be _really _highly appreciated!**

**OxO**

**I hope you'll all enjoy this chapter a lot! This one is about Sabo, but I have more stuff about Luffy and Ace planned for the next one! I won't say much, but it _does _involve a certain fat black-beared bastard that we all wish would just go to hell already. **

* * *

Sabo had always known that he was not like all of the others.

Ever since the revolutionary army had first found him- a _child,_ drowned, burnt and _dying, _something had been off about him. Not only because of the amnesia, but he had simply always been _different. _

Sabo had always been willing to throw himself in dangerous situations, even if it meant risking getting killed. He also cared deeply- _very _deeply about his Nakama. Sabo had many times gotten himself hurt for the sake of others, much to the rest of the revolutionary army's dismay.

But scolding him didn't work. If it did, then _surely_ all of Koala's countless lessons would've taught him something by now, but here he was. Still as reckless and idiotic as always. He had always been an odd one, that was for sure…

But they wouldn't trade their favorite chief of staff for anyone.

Sure, he was reckless and an idiot at times, but goddammit did they all love and treasure _their _idiot more than anything else. Whether they liked to admit it or not, that was how it was, and always had been, though Sabo himself, like the dunce that he was, failed to notice that himself.

Speaking of Sabo, the chief of staff was currently walking down the long corridors of the revolutionaries' base. Though the usual chipper carefree boy didn't have his usual carefree smile plastered on his lips… No, if fact, quite the opposite.

The man was _frowning. _

The frown wasn't major or angry, but it was very clear that the blonde was deep in thought about something troubling…

'_I can't stop thinking about what Luffy told me…'_ The blonde furrowed his brows.

He had met the small captain for the apparent first time… _or so he had thought._

'_What was with that reaction?'_ The look of Luffy's face as he had cried and screamed out his name was still plastered- _burned _to the back of the revolutionary's mind.

His gut still ached when he remembered the feeling of guilt that he had felt right at that moment. '_He knew me… Luffy knew me before I lost my memories and I just told him off like he was a damn stranger…' _Sabo's head had been aching the past couple of days for that exact reason.

He wasn't one to usually dwell on matters that were clearly out of reach, but this- this was simply too obscure. The part that haunted Sabo the most was probably what caused all of the migraines….

"_You were always the nicer _brother, _Shishishishishi!" _

Brother?

Brother?

Brother?

_Brother?_

Sabo knew the meaning of the word well- but never in his had he imagined that… that he had left behind so much, much less a _brother _once leaving Dawn Island with the revolutionary army all of those years ago.

'_How much suffering and loneliness have I caused Luffy all this time?' _

It had been what…. 9- no, 10 years since he was first found?

The thought that he had left someone alone… in suffering.. believing he was _dead _for all of those years…. Sabo was never alone in the revolutionary army. Not only did he have his two best friends, Koala and Hack- but _everyone _truly cared for him. Sabo had always been thankful for that.

'If what Luffy said is really true.. if we're really brothers… then that would mean..'

Sabo's thoughts kept swirling around, only increasing the strongly-pounding headache that had bothered his head the last couple of days. Another thing kept bugging Sabo every time he thought back to his and Luffy's encounter.

The way Luffy had phrased his words had made it sound like there were _multiple _brothers. _Plus, _he had mentioned another name.

_Ace._

Sabo couldn't be certain, but the only face coming to mind when thinking about that name would be "Fire-fist Ace."

But that didn't add up.

Luffy's first name was _Monkey D. _meanwhile Ace's was _Portgas. D_

Sure, the two of them both coincidentally shared a "D" in their names, but that wasn't enough to convince Sabo that _that _was the Ace that Luffy had talked about. This also raised other questions revolving his _own_ name.

"_...s..__.a...bo__...ku?"_

Sabo had always just been Sabo. Would this mean that his full name was "Monkey D. Sabo?" No- that felt wrong… GARGH!

This whole thing was making his head spin more than it had for _years. _Why did amnesia have to be so damn annoying? He never asked to forget everything and everyone he loved… and now this kid- _Luffy _was popping up out of seemingly nowhere, claiming that they were _brothers. _

"_...s...abo..__.k__u..n!"_

'_I'll have to find him again. I have to confront him about this whole ordeal and about this Ace person. I have to-!"_

"_Sabo-kun!"_

The sudden outburst startled Sabo more than he would've liked.

The voice that called out was familiar. It came from behind, but Sabo had been too caught up in thought to even notice that someone had been calling out to him. The blonde turned to his friend and answered her call.

"Koala?" He replied, being met by the lovely lady's utmost beautiful face. She did not look pleased.

"Finally! I've been searching for you for the past hour, you know! Why didn't you answer me when I called out to you!?" The girl replied, clearly frustrated. Sabo sweated, avoiding the female's sharp gaze.

"Well, I've been busy thinking about… stuff. What's the hurry? From what I remember, we don't have any missions just yet," the chief of staff replied. But to Sabo's surprise, he wasn't replied with another snarky remark.

Nor did Koala start pulling his cheeks…

The Fishman-karate assistant studied his features with a… _worried(?) _look on her face.

"Hey, Sabo-kun. Look me in the eyes.." Koala said, though her tone of voice wasn't commanding nor angry… in fact, it sounded… troubled?

Sabo obeyed confused, and to his suspicions, he was right. The orange-haired girl _did _look worried. Ok, now that was _strange. _Sure, he would pull a lot of stupid stunts often, but usually, she would just go with it and scold him after they were finished, and then let him return to his normal duties…

The two revolutionaries kept staring each other directly in the eyes for several seconds before Koala broke the tension.

"About what you've been thinking," the girl glanced around to make sure that no one was listening before continuing, "We need to talk."

Sabo tensed visibly at the remark. Koala noticed.

Crap, what now? Sabo had been planning to keep all of this a secret until he was certain… he couldn't allow his Nakama to be worried about his amnesia now!

"Sabo-kun. You've been seriously out of it these past days. And I've seen whenever it's "Nothing" before. You can't keep it hidden forever, that's just gonna end up hurting all of us in the long run… What's been bothering you? You can trust me, Sabo-kun," Koala said, much to Sabo's surprise.

Should he tell her?

He didn't wanna burden her with his problems, though...

Koala kept staring at Sabo, clearly awaiting an answer, meanwhile, Sabo was considering if telling her was even worth it… it was his problems, wasn't it? He really didn't want Koala getting involved… she didn't deserve that….

"...I…. It's nothing, don't worry about it, I'm fine," Sabo said, trying his best to sound as convincing as possible.

"Sabo-kun…" Her voice softened.

"It's very very clear that it's not nothing. I thought we were supposed to not keep secrets from each other?" Koala's voice kept saddening more and more, making Sabo feel guiltier and guiltier by the second.

He considered it- he _actually_ considered it, but just for a second though.

'_What is wrong with you?! Keep Koala out of this!' _

The anger from Sabo's thoughts accidentally leaked out as he spoke up again.

"I _said- _I'm fine. You don't have to worry about _me, _now please just leave me alone," The blonde replied, the girl bewildered at the statement.

"But Sabo-kun-!"

"_THERE'S NOTHING WRONG I TELL YOU!" _Sabo yelled, a tad too loud. This appeared to startle the girl just enough to leave her speechless for several seconds.

'_Crap, that was rougher than I intended it to be…' _The revolutionary thought, the sense of guilt _again _filling him up from the inside. Sabo knew he had been too rough- he should apologize…

The blonde lifted up his head to read his friend's face...

The girl seemed to have gotten over the shock of having Sabo yell at her…. Koala did not look pleased. Not. One. Bit. In fact, the worried look on her face slowly frowned further, and the look in her eyes turned straight up _offended. _The girl spoke up shortly after.

"_Fine _then, I was just trying to be polite! But as it seems you _clearly _don't want my help, I'll just leave. I'm sorry for trying."

And just like that, the orange-haired girl spun on her heels and left Sabo feeling utterly and absolutely dumbstruck. As realization slowly came flowing over the boy, the reality of his actions began to sink in.

'_You freaking moron! Now, look at what you've done!' _Sabo sulked.

His bad day had officially just gotten even worse.

* * *

**The brother chase**

* * *

Several _way _too long hours later, Sabo found himself back at the heart of the base- _Dragon's office. _

He had forgotten. He had _completely _forgotten that they were supposed to go on a mission- a really _really _important mission today. That was the reason Koala had been looking for him, Sabo was sure of it.

The girl had simply wanted to come remind him of a mission and he had completely blown up on her. Not only did Sabo feel _extremely _bad, but it left the situation he was currently in _extremely _awkward.

Aside from Sabo himself, Koala was _also _in the office. As well as Hack, their official third-mate, and _the Dragon, _the revolutionaries' leader and founder, was also stationed right at his desk.

The silence in the room was suffocating the blonde, but as he was glancing down at the girl, it was very clear that she was still angry at him.

"Did something happen between the two of you?" Hack questioned, asking the question currently also clouding Dragon's mind.

Sabo turned to Koala, not really knowing what to say, but she simply turned her head in displeasement.

….

…

..

And finally, after several stifling seconds, the girl answered the two curious men.

"...We had a fight. Don't worry though, it won't get in the way of the mission," Koala replied.

"A _fight_? I get that the two of you can be tense with missions and everything, but you never argue to that extreme. What's changed?" Dragon asked, seemingly worried. Koala turned to Sabo, her facial expression bitter.

"Well, Sabo-kun? Answer the man. What's wrong?" She once again questioned, the guilt simply overflowing within Sabo further.

'_You just had to go there, didn't you?' _

The blonde shook his head. "It's nothing, don't worry about it. We'll make sure the mission proceeds as planned," the chief of staff reassured. Dragon didn't look completely convinced, though still simply nodded.

"I take it all of you know what the plan is?" Dragon asked, Koala and Hack nodding firmly.

"_Actually…."_ Sabo said weakly.

He had been so caught up in thought the past couple of days that he had completely, _completely _forgotten _everything _about this mission. The information was just gone- poof! It had slipped out of his mind. Koala and Hack sighed simultaneously.

"Sheesh, you really _are _hopeless, you know that?"

Dragon looked at the chief of staff, a look of worry glimpsing over his face _ever so slightly. _This wasn't like the usual prepared, well informed Sabo…

"Alright then, let's go over the plans one last time," he said, the three revolutionaries nodding in agreement.

"I'm sending the three of you to infiltrate a nearby navy-base, G-23. The base is located inside of a seastone mine, meaning you'll have to navigate _extra _carefully when infiltrating and escaping," Dragon said, Sabo simply nodding as a reply.

"We've been using that mine as a way of getting seastone resources for a while… but I've lost contact with the men I sent there over 3 weeks ago."

"Apparently, the mine is lead by a vice-admiral that goes by the name Rex… We don't know much, but apparently, he has some _extremely _important intel on us and our whereabouts, so I sent someone to check it out and potentially destroy the evidence… But I have yet to hear back from any of them."

"Koala, Sabo, Hack. I'm sending the three of you to locate and, if found, rescue my lost men. In the process, I also want you to track down and search for the intel found on us, and _destroy it._"

"Are we clear?" The leader asked.

"Crystal!" The three revolutionaries stated simultaneously, saluting their leader.

As the three of them were leaving the office to gather supplies and resources for the missions, Sabo felt a light tap on his shoulder. Turning to the direction of the tap, to his utter surprise, he saw Koala's _still very clearly frustrated _face.

"Sabo-kun." Her voice was firm and clear, unlike her usual "angry-though-happy" go-to voice. Sabo knew she was still mad, and she had every right to be. So the blonde-haired-boy merely stood, stood and listened closely.

"Listen. Since you _clearly _don't want to talk about what's bothering you, you must have it under control. So whatever happens… _DON'T _let this get in the way of our mission, you got that? I need you to concentrate on this fully. If you don't, I think I can _safely _say that this will end badly for more than just you," the female revolutionary said, and then she walked off, leaving Sabo to think about the words she had just told him.

* * *

**The brother chase**

* * *

Koala let out a sigh.

In the background, Hack was just about done tying up a poor unconscious that had previously been occupied with guarding the entrance to the mine that they had arrived at several minutes prior.

But in all honesty, it would most definitely be for the best if he remained unconscious… the night air was cool, and since he was currently sitting in nothing but underwear, he could easily catch a cold.

The girl almost- _almost _felt bad for him.

"Sabo-kun? Are you done back there?" She asked, consciously keeping her voice "professional." She cautiously looked over at the pile of rocks Sabo was currently changing into the clothes they had robbed from the navy soldier.

"...Not yet," came a short, though faint reply from the blonde.

The plan for infiltration was fairly simple, really. Steal the identity of one of the soldiers working there, and then walk in _directly_ through the main entrance and past the guards doing a security check.

Of course, such a strategy would only work for a very short period of time, since it would only really be a matter of time before somebody noticed something was clearly off.

But even so, it was the most strategic move for now, and Sabo was the lucky fellow ho got to dress up, seeing as how neither a girl or a Fishman would be able to pass by with an ID-card with the labels:

_Name: Fred_

_Age: 24_

_Sex: Male_

_Race: Human_

_ID-Number: 60991_

The three revolutionaries were currently hiding out right behind the mound that was the entrance to the underground marine base and mine, G-23. They had, aside from just robbed a poor soldier performing his patrolling duties from all his clothes, also stolen a wagon filled with coal, which would also be an essential part of their infiltration plan.

"We should probably hurry. This infiltration will go smoothly if we can manage to get in and out before sunrise, without causing a bigger uproar…" Hack, who had just finished properly restraining their prisoner, explained.

He walked up beside Koala with his arms crossed.

Their eyes met.

Koala looked at him with a serious expression and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, since it hasn't been long since our spies were discovered, the entire base is most definitely going to be on extra alert for possible intruders," She said, clarifying the danger this mission involved.

_This mission was of great importance, though… failing could mean crucial information about the revolutionary army could be reported to the government… _

_And although it _would _certainly be tough to locate their missing spies, they needed to be found, in the hopeful case that they were still alive or at the base, before they could be taken to Impel Down or Marineford for further questioning and interrogation. _

It was no wonder all of the three revolutionaries were as tense and focused on the mission as possible.

"I agree. Don't know why, but I get a feeling the sooner this mission is over, the better…" Came a sudden answer from Sabo who suddenly stepped into sight.

He was wearing the typical white and blue marine uniform, and the cap with the word 'marine' on it was pulled down far over his face, _hopefully _concealing his identity enough for them all to sneak inside.

Sabo seemed unnaturally tense… normally, Sabo _would_ do his job, of course, though that wasn't to say he put his work as the 2nd in command before anything else.. Rather, the guy would run off on his own irresponsibly, usually leaving Koala and Hack to deal with the mess left behind.

He couldn't help feeling extra on edge lately, as a matter of fact… Koala's words still rang clearly in his mind…"_DON'T let this get in the way of our mission, you got that? I need you to concentrate on this fully. If you don't, I think I can safely say that this will end badly for more than just you." _

Sabo knew she was right.

He _had _been more distracted recently than he had in… in ever! He _couldn't _let this get in the way of this vision. After all, there was more than his own life at stake.

"Let's go," Sabo said, his tone of voice serious and determined.

* * *

**The brother chase**

* * *

Everything so far was going smoothly at the entrance to the underground marine base, G-23.

Soldiers were rapidly entering and leaving the cave with newly stocked wagons filled with ores, fuel, seastone and such. But still, because of the incident that had occurred mere days ago, security was _tight_.

Since the giant metal doors blocking off the cave entrance were the only way in, Vice-admiral Rex, the person in command, had taken extra precautions with security and had therefore stationed a _butt-load_ of guards outside to watch and confirm the identity of anyone who entered and left the mines.

This meant more work for the already hard-working officers, which of course, left them in a position to only complain about their jobs further. And since this base was also a mine, soldiers here, aside from just having normal duties and sometimes getting called out to sea, had to work hard inside of the mines as well.

It wasn't a very dangerous job, and soldiers were getting fed and were allowed time to rest as well, though only the tougher strong _men_ came to work at this specific base.

And it also most certainly _sucked_ to have night watch.

The midnight air was cold, _very cold _on this fall island, and the _also super duper cold _wind blowing by harshly also didn't help much in the matter.

10 guards were currently stationed outside with a gun and lantern in stationed in each individuals' hands. However, the soldiers didn't seem to _actually _be _observing _their surroundings, as they were supposed to. Sure, there was the teeny weeny _chance_ someone was _actually _going to come in order to infiltrate the base, but waiting for them to show up was most certainly a very, very, very boring job.

….

"...!"

But suddenly, the sound of a wagon, which appeared to have an annoying squeaking wheel, closed in on them

The guards instinctively pointed their guns in the direction of the sound, just as they had been instructed, only to be met by disappointment at the sight of a single Navy soldier dragging a wagon filled with coal.

As soon as he had reached the doors, he stopped, and four of the guards began investigating the contents of his wagon.

"Name and certification number," one of the guards demanded to know.

"Yes, sir! Name's Fred, certification number: 60991," he answered also saluting in the proper manner.

The guard looked through the long list of names and numbers in his hands, until eventually, he found what he was looking for. Yep, another man on the list, nothing suspicious or unusual with this one either… Sigh.

"Alright, identity confirmed," he said nodding at the younger marine before him, the rookie nodding back.

"Nothing seems to be smuggled into the coal either, sir, " another guard verified.

The guard in charge took one last glance at the marine wanting to enter the base through the gate he was in charge of controlling.

He seemed a little young to be working in the mines… but who really knew these days? Every now so often, extraordinary marines with power far surpassing what their age group should be capable of would pop up out of seemingly nowhere.

"You're all clear. Go on ahead," he said finally allowing his suspicions to clear and for "_Fred"_ to enter.

The big metal doors opened with loud creaking noises. Clearly the gates were very aged, and the youngster didn't waste any more time as he hurried through the gates and into the marine base. More officers met him on the other side, and after yet _another_ security check_, """FRED"""_ had finally successfully entered G-23.

...

"My, I'd heard rumors about this underground base being troublesome to get into and around in once inside, but this is really something else…" Koala whispered, quite astounded at measures that the navy had taken.

Hack and herself were currently lying flat on their stomachs on top of a small ledge, which conveniently enough gave them a great view of essentially the entirety of the caves. The smell of burning coal filled the cave into every last corner and crevice. And _everywhere_, hardworking marines digging in the walls and pulling heavy minecarts along the rails could be spotted.

"Vice-admiral Rex is the one in charge here. He's a strategist instead of a fighter, which could definitely prove troublesome… with all these marines scattered randomly throughout the base, intruders such as ourselves will have a much harder time avoiding them," Hack whispered.

Although the working marines weren't _guarding_ the place, any of the revolutionaries could easily get spotted by a worker if they weren't careful.

Sabo walked closer to the two, though he was careful to remain unspotted from below.

He was now back in his iconic black coat, dark blue shirt, and, of course, his _infamous_ black top-hat. While disguising yourself as a marine was a smart move indeed, none of the revolutionaries really liked wearing the clothes of their enemies respectfully. And now that they had gotten past the guards, it didn't matter what they wore. If any of them were spotted, they'd know the expected intruders had already made it into the base.

"So? How's it look?" Came a sudden question from behind.

Koala and Hack didn't answer Sabo right then, and simply pulled back carefully.

The orange-haired revolutionary then pulled out a big, somewhat old, sheet of paper and spread it out so all three of them could see it properly. It was a map of the base… and by the looks of G-23, what they were currently seeing was only the tip of the iceberg…

"This is where we are right now…" Koala explained pointing at a tiny dot she had drawn herself amongst all of the confusing maze-like walls of the mine.

"Before this base became man-driven by the _marines_, it used to house thousands of slaves who would be worked to death… and for that exact reason, that means there are also countless of prison cells placed throughout this entire cave…" Koala explained, her tone of voice dying off a little bit at the end of her statement.

"I see. If we assume the best, which would be that our spies are still alive and were only captured, then they'd _have_ to be kept in one of those cells. Even if we all go searching for them, it would take far too long, and we would most definitely be too late," Hack realized calmly.

Koala nodded.

"Therefore, I suggest we split up. We absolutely _can't _leave without finding and destroying whatever intel they have on us," Sabo concluded.

Koala nodded once again, a bit more firmly this time.

"Let's decide where and when to meet back up again… Sabo-kun, you _have _to be careful around here… after all, this mine is also-" The woman, however, didn't get to finish her explanation.

A loud _whoosh_ could be heard, as a certain someone suddenly leaped down from the ledge they were currently crouching on, and to neither of the commanders' surprise, Sabo was now out of sight.

"He's gone…" Hack said, despite _countless_ previous experiences, sounding quite surprised.

"That idiot! I didn't even tell him about the office where they're most definitely hiding information about us!" Koala whispered madly, her cheeks puffing.

"Let's not worry about him for now… Sabo _is_ our chief in staff after all. He can handle himself, so let us go and find that information and let him worry about finding our missing colleagues" Hack said reassuringly.

To this, Koala said nothing…

While she would under normal circumstances agree full-heartedly with Hack, that wasn't _exactly_ the case right now…

For some reason, memories of the few past days, where Sabo been acting off- _way too off, _were returning and annoying, though also worrying her at the same time…

It wasn't like Sabo to get all mad for her worrying about him like that… Koala had no plausible guess as to what was currently going on in the head of their chief of staff, but she definitely intended to find out. She may act all mad about Sabo right now, but that was simply because she cared…. She really, _really _hoped Sabo came to understand that and would tell her what was wrong… She hated seeing and acting towards him like this.

'_I hope all of this blows over quickly…' _The orange-haired girl thought.

She sighed once again.

_For some reason, she had a really bad feeling in her gut about this…_

* * *

**In a certain vice-admiral's office**

* * *

The tall man sat lazily with his feet on kicked up on the table. A dart could be seen in his hand, his eyes glued to the wall in front of him… he was careful as he took aim. Just as always whenever he played darts.

_On_ that exact wall that he was currently aiming at, a large batch of wanted posters, each one of them filled with holes or darts, were hanging there for him to shoot his dart at.

There were a lot of posters…

_Pirates_… other species of outlaws who were posing a threat in the current era…

The super rookies, the Yonko and their commanders, and of course, the scum from the revolutionary army, who had declared war against the government, and even were as arrogant as to believe that they stood a chance of taking _them _down…

He finally threw the tiny dart in his hand, having already set his sight on a specific wanted poster with a certain straw-hatted brat's idiotic smiling face…

_Bullseye. He hit him right between the eyes, just as he had intended._

_Not that it came to a surprise… Vice-admiral Rex was a man who'd never miss his mark when playing darts._

He leaned back further in his office chair, recalling a certain article he had read just earlier that exact day…

That little punk had gotten himself involved with _Whitebeard_… his capture had certainly come as a surprise, since Whitebeard wasn't such a proactive pirate these days, his name rarely appearing in the newspaper…

One of the super rookies captured by Whitebeard… when somebody from that generation was involved, things had a tendency to take a turn to the unexpected… that much Vice-admiral Rex had learned after time and time again finding himself shook by the actions those troublemakers would pull off…

'_Straw hat Luffy… although he's the youngest from the worst generation, he's just as mighty and troublesome as the others… I wonder… could such a brat possibly have connections with Whitebeard, since something as peculiar as_ this _has happened?' _

Rex simply couldn't make sense of this… Whitebeard was, despite his mild activity, _still_ a Yonko. If Straw Hat had been reckless and done something to hurt him or his crew, why had they taken him prisoner instead of simply finishing him off on the spot?

It was certainly not because the Yonko and his crew did not have the power to. No- in fact, it was quite the opposite. So why… _Why would Whitebeard take Straw Hat captive? _The vice-admiral found himself getting lost in thought about that one question… something which, normally wouldn't happen unless the vice-admiral was absurdly, absurdly _bored. _Unfortunately, with a base as tightly enforced as this one, not many incidents would occur, which would often leave him with nothing to do. Especially since the intruders had _just _been caught mere days ago. It would most certainly be a while before anything would happen again.

Though suddenly, the sound of someone fiercely knocking on the metal door leading into his office came and interrupted his thoughts.

"_Vice-admiral Rex! Vice-admiral Rex!" _Shouted a voice from the other side.

The knocking continued, much to the vice-admirals annoyance.

'Tch!' Rex clicked his tongue. What a pain in the ass.

"You can come in already!" He shouted back, already feeling his patience running out.

_Geez, being in charge of a bunch of idiots who couldn't even think for themselves would result in the vice-admirals getting serious headaches at times._

Not a second more passed by, before the marine soldier quickly and nervously stepped into the office while saluting, remaining quiet.

"What's wrong? Have more intruders infiltrated or come in search of the other pieces of trash we executed?" He asked, standing up as he felt the excitement start to build up from within.

People who dared go against the law deserved _punishment_. When they had first discovered the small group of revolutionaries who were just sitting around and gathering intel on them, _of course_, Rex himself had made sure they were killed. All criminals deserved death… and that death he couldn't help but feel excited about partaking in.

"No, sir! Fortunately, everything is perfectly normal!" He then said. Those words alone were more than enough to crush and annihilate all of the riled up adrenaline within the vice-admiral.

He stared, still standing, with a dumbfounded look on his face at the reporting soldier without saying a single word.

A few seconds passed in silence, though suddenly, the expression on Rex's face changed…

He gritted had teeth, and then suddenly _slammed_ his hand his fist into his office desk, nearly breaking it in two.

"YOU MORON! HAVE I NOT TOLD YOU NOT TO GIVE ME USELESS INTEL SUCH AS THIS ON MANY OCCASIONS BEFORE!? GO BACK AND DO YOUR DAMN WORK IF YOU CAN'T EVEN REPORT SOMETHING USEFUL ANYWAY!" He yelled, _extremely_ angry.

"Y-yes, sir!" Came a weak and terrified reply from the soldier, who immediately turned tails and ran straight out of the door, too terrified to simply do otherwise.

Rex stared after him with a wrathful expression, though soon calmed down, and not to his own surprise, he felt his head beginning to pound, just as it always did whenever he got worked up like this.

* * *

**Sabo**

* * *

Sabo was running through the maze of hallways that were the corridors with many many many cells meant for keeping prisoners engraved into the wall.

The corridors were a lot narrower compared to the big open space that took up most space in the mine. Countless prison cells had been built into the walls, eventually creating the confusion layout.

'It makes sense though, considering these cells used to host slaves… by doing this, it would mean that even if they managed to break out, they'd still have to find their way through these tricky corridors before they'd be able to escape…' Sabo concluded, disgusted simply by the thought.

He wasn't running at full speed, as it was still required for him to properly check every cell he ran past. Most of them were empty, though. And those that weren't, had nothing but the remaining bones of the people who were once imprisoned and labeled as work tools for this place inside them…

Despite how enraged Sabo felt by this sight, he had to keep running and focus on his mission for now…

He was lucky no guards seemed to care about checking this area. With how narrow these hallways were, and with no place to hide, it'd be really bad if he bumped into a big group of marines…

He would be forced to get into a bigger fight, and doing so lower their chance of success by _dangerous _amounts.

He kept his haki activated, in order to sense any enemies nearby. He wouldn't want the concept he had just imagined to become reality, after all...

The hallways were otherwise completely silent. The only sound that could be heard was that of his boots tapping against the stone ground as he ran. It echoed throughout the empty halls, making Sabo feel very very much alone...

But all of a sudden… as he was glancing at all the different cells, something… _something_ within _one_ very specific cell caught his attention, almost… _forcing_ his body to come to a _complete _stop.

And so he did. Although he wasn't even _close_ to running out of breath, he stopped running nonetheless.

Sabo glanced, horrified at the sight…

_Why, why, why, why?! _

Right in between the cells of a seemingly normal cell, hung another seemingly relatively normal pile of bones... Only this one was _smaller, _much smaller. A child- it _had _to be.

Sabo gritted his teeth. No… This was too cruel.

The skeleton was hanging from the ceiling, rope tied tightly around it's stomach. The bones on the child were very clearly _bruised _and _full of holes. _Whoever had been responsible for this child had _hung it up like a rag-doll _before deciding to _torture them to death _by _shooting _and _whipping _them.

Sabo couldn't take his eyes off of the _disgusting _sight…

_If not for the fact that Sabo had many times before seen how inhumanly people would treat other living beings, a sight such as this would have been enough to make him throw up._

He clenched his fists tightly and a dark shadow covered his wrathful eyes.. He would _never_ understand why some people found pleasure in watching the helpless suffer… why some people apparently didn't have feelings such as '_sympathy'_ or '_empathy…'_

Sabo was visibly _boiling. _Why? Why did the sight of this _tied up corpse _affect him _this _much!? He couldn't understand… Nevertheless, the people who had done this were absolute _unforgivable. _Sabo wouldn't even go as far as calling abusers such as these _humans. _They were _clearly _lacking attributes and a rational sense of right and wrong. Such things could _impossibly _be human beings.

'Those _bastards_… living and working on, pretending that the dark era of slaves being forced to work in government facilities never happened… they didn't even bother giving any of these unfortunate souls a proper burial… I _swear_ I'm gonna-!"

"_SABO!" _

Startled, the blonde turned around at the calling of his name. He hadn't recognized the voice. He was so enraged right now, he hadn't't focused… he'd let his guard down. Crap, had he been discovered?

Cautiously, the chief of staff glanced around, but he couldn't sense anything.

"…_."_

"HURRY! I CAN SEE IT ALREADY!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

_What the…? Who said that? Who had that… voice?_

Sabo didn't understand... no one was around…

The male was still standing all alone in front of the empty dangling husk of bones hanging from the ceiling…

_Cold sweat began running down his forehead…_

Sabo couldn't ever recall having heard the voice before… but still… it didn't sound the sound of a stranger… it was… _painfully_ familiar even…

Was he going crazy? The voice _clearly _belonged to neither Koala or Hack, the only two people he had come here with… But the voice was so aggravatingly familiar… Okay, either he was going crazy, he was hearing ghosts, or the voice belonged to someone hiding around. The third option was most definitely the most logical one. But Sabo could not sense _any _sign of human - or animal for that sake - life _anywhere _around him. And he had _good _observation haki. This was wrong. A wrong feeling built up in his gut, and suddenly, Sabo gut the urge to start running again.

And quickly.

But before he could even consider it, Sabo blinked… ant everything around him began changing before his very eyes…

_He was running amongst piles of trash… the sky was a reddish-color since the sun was setting, _which made no sense whatsoever, considering he was supposed to be _underground, and_ _for some strange reason, a _pipe_, his main weapon was also clenched tightly in his hands._

What was this? Was he hallucinating?

_Also, another boy was running beside him, but Sabo couldn't see his face… But … it was… blurry for some reason..._

"_I KNOW, _ACE! _We have to save that Luffy-kid if he isn't already dead!"_

"!?"

Another voice had suddenly sounded inside Sabo's head… only this time, it was not only one he had heard before, but also one he would never be able to forget…

'_That's… that's… _MY…_. voice…!' _Sabo thought, panic immediately creeping into his very very very very _very _confused mind.

_Why…? What in the world were these unclear visions suddenly just flashing before his eyes!? WHO the hell was that boy? Why didn't any of this make the slightest sense!?_

"!"

But before Sabo had any more time to study the boy running beside him, or his surroundings for that sake, another _utterly_ disturbing picture flashed before his eyes…

_Just like the tiny skeleton before him… it was… a boy- a child… one who seemed far too familiar for this to just be a coincidence._

_He had black hair, a small scar under his left eye, and an overly sized straw hat hanging around his neck… though more importantly, he _too _was hanging, tied up, bloody and beaten, and he was _crying.

_For some odd reason, Sabo felt a lump in his stomach and throat when seeing this… he felt worried, although he had next to no idea whatsoever what was even _happening _before his very eyes..._

'_AAAAACCCEEEEEEEEE!' The small familiar boy shouted, with tears streaming down his bruised face…_

That voice…

Sabo _recognized _it as well. And these facial features… there could still be doubts honorable enough to be taken into consideration.. but there wasn't really much denying it, was there? After all, Sabo had met him mere _days _ago...

'_No way… is that… Luffy…?_' Sabo thought, bluntly staring straight into the air…

_The other boy who was apparently named Ace disappeared… as did the scenery around him, and even Luffy hanging helplessly in that horrible state… _

_Now, only the same skeleton of a child who had met a terrible fate remained in front of him. The flash was gone. _He was back to himself.

Disturbed, the revolutionary fell to his knees, a cold sweat covering him from top to toe,

'_What… what _was _that!?' _

Sabo was confused, bewildered, disoriented, chaotic, disarranged, woolly, obscured, perplexed, bewildered. An _ocean _of emotions came raining down at the boy.

Several minutes passed before Sabo _finally _regained his composure enough to think straight. He was certain. Whatever the _hell _he had just seen, it had either been some kind of devil fruit power attack, a hallucination, or…

'_A memory...' _

The thought itself made Sabo feel uncomfortable and confused. The past 10 years he had spent making new memories and forming new bonds… The thought about what life had brought him _before _his amnesia had certainly kept him awake on several nights… but… had he actually just _experienced a memory? _If so, then _what the hell had he been through as a child!? _And what the hell was up with _Luffy_!? The boy looked almost _dead! _

'_What happened? Who the hell was Ace? Why now, why here of all places!? Why couldn't I- Why couldn't I just-!?' _

Sabo was forced to come to a stop as he heard the light tapping come from behind him. He had failed to notice it at first, but as soon as he managed to _snap _out of his panicked state he realized that he had just _screwed. Up. _

"My, it seems we have company. To what do I owe the pleasure, chief of staff of the revolutionary army, Sabo?"

The man wore the unmistakable white uniform and cape that Sabo had seen countless upon countless times during infiltration missions.

"Vice-admiral Rex… Dragon-san warned me about you, but I guess you really _do _live up to what the rumors say," Sabo said, trying to keep the fact that he had accidentally let his guard down secret.

The vice admiral smirked calmly. He did not seem disturbed by the fact that he, a _strategist, not a fighter, _was currently all alone with one of the revolutionary army's' top-officers. You would think he would show some kind of worry at this, but no. The man simply stood, completely calm.

"What is a man such as yourself doing mourning over the corpse of someone so pitiful?" The vice admiral asked. Sabo's brows furrowed.

"I beg your pardon?" The officer had regained his footing by now, so he stood, tall and mighty as he was, glaring directly at Vice-admiral Rex, who looked to be occupied with glaring at the remains of the child.

"That slave you were busy getting all aggressive over… from what I've heard, he was a real persistent one," Rex started, Sabo simply glaring angrily in silence.

"He was captured along with the rest of the children from his home village, if I remember correctly. The _poor poor _children couldn't resist the constant pressure they were put under, and so they slowly began withering off, one by one…"

"That boy, however, the healthiest of the bunch kept offering scraps of food and happily took beatings for the rest of the prisoners, the poor fool," Rex began, an expression not looking remorseful or sorrowful in the slightest… in fact, it was quite the opposite, and it was _pissing Sabo off. _

He wouldn't stand around and listen for this much longer.

"But of course, all things such as this are forced to come to an ending sooner or later. It was a real tragedy, I tell you. The boys 'girlfriend' was going to be beaten to death, I believe. However, the boy actually _gave up his own life _for the sake of her, the idiotic fool! Hah! Just thinking about it makes me want to burst out into laughter!"

Alright, that was _enough. _Sabo wouldn't stand around for this as much as a second later.

The chief of staff glared, stared _straight _into the eyes of the vice admiral. He was prepared- _itching _to simply jump at the man at _any_ second. Though just before Sabo got the chance to, Rex spoke up one last time.

"_That idiot was convinced that _being alone was worse than dying… _so he chose death over loneliness."_

Sabo's breathing fastened dramatically. His entire body began trembling in a cold sweat. He stumbled backward, a hand clenched tightly to his pounding head.

_What was with this heavy reaction!? _

Sabo was admittedly _scared _for the first time in a long _long long _while. What the _hell _was currently wrong with him!? Before his eyes, he was seeing so. Many. Faces.

_A boy with a straw hat, a boy in a red tank-top, a girl with green hair, an overly sized woman smoking a cigarette, a giant tiger, a nobleman, a boy with a bowl-cut and strangely disturbing smile, vice-admiral Garp!?, and an extremely ugly-looking pirate who was missing several teeth… _but even though he was seeing all of these weird people… he couldn't make out a single one of their faces!

He was hearing so. Many. Voices.

But he didn't recognize any of them, how should he!? He didn't know any of this, he didn't know why this was happening! He felt dizzy, _nauseous- _even. This was too much, his head was going to _explode! _

Sabo began stumbling backward, a wave of dizziness crashing over him. His vision was blurring with dark spots flashing before him. Faces, voices, locations. All were overflowing in his head.

'_Stop it, stop it! I can't take this anymore!' _

'_I'M BEGGING YOU!' _Sabo _screamed _internally.

"_**MAKE IT STOP!" **_

…

…

…

…

…

…

And just like that, everything went blank.

* * *

**A review, follow and favorite would be much appreciated! :)**


	9. BONUS CHAPTER AN

_**BONUS CHAPTER:**_

**Long time no see, eh? I'm sorry. I'm working out some stuff, and I've been swallowed up by the Kpop hole recently and I just- **

**Writing on this has been difficult, eheheh...*nervous sweating* Anyways, I'm working out a compromise right now, In terms of continuing this story. Expect further details within the next week or so, I promise :)**

**In the meantime, I found a little gold nugget for you guys who really just want something. I wrote this quite a while ago, and to be frank, I won't say it's my best work. But the guilt of not updating has legit been eating me up so bad, I feel like you guys deserve not to be left in the dust. Like, you are legitimately the nicest people I have ever met. **

**My relationship with this story is as unclear as my idea for a plot, so it's basically nonexistent. Anyway's, a lot has changed, is what I'm saying.**

**MY SINCEREST APOLAGIES. One of the following is going to happen within this week:**

**1\. I will abandon this story with an official notice to let you know and say goodbye.**

**2\. I will be giving this story up for adoption.**

**3\. I will hand this story over to my sister and let her continue it, under my supervision. **

**I love you guys over everything in the world, please stay tuned and feel free to yell at me in the reviews, lol I deserve it after leaving you in the dust**

* * *

(DAWN ISLAND, 10 YEARS AGO)

It was another clear sunny day and the three brothers were out training as usual. Though instead of their usual spot in the woods, they had all gone to the beach to swim.

"Ace, Sabo! Let me swim too!" The little energetic, unpredictable rubber human known as Luffy exclaimed.

"No way!"

Ace was the oldest of the three of them, though also the cockiest and the one with the most attitude. He enjoyed teasing Luffy who was 3 years younger than both him and their third brother, Sabo. Though towards him, Ace was generally more calm and understanding. Though that's not to say he couldn't get mad at him.

"But whyyyyyyyyyy~? I wanna go to!"

"You idiot, you ate a devil fruit, remember? You can't swim, you'll just sink to the bottom of the ocean like an anchor, idiot!" Ace yelled at him.

"Why you-!"

"Now now, calm down, both of you. Luffy, you know he's right. Once you've eaten a devil fruit, there's nothing you can do. You can't swim, that's a fact," Sabo answered the 7-year-old boy who crossed his arms and started frowning.

"You see that rock over there?" Ace pointed towards a big rock placed right in front of the ocean.

"Wait over there while we swim, okay?"

"Yeah yeah….." The little boy replied. He sighed. Watching without doing anything was SO boring, though he knew they were right. When it came to swimming, he was about as helpful as an anchor being used as a lifejacket.

Ace and Sabo took their shirts, hats, socks, and shoes off, being left in nothing than shorts. They got into position and started talking.

"You see the big rock out there?" Sabo said pointing towards something far off in the distance.

"Yeah, let's see who can get there first!" Ace exclaimed. Sabo nodded instantly.

"Luffy! Don't move an inch, 'kay? We're gonna race!" Ace yelled at the tiny boy who was still sulking.

He didn't look like he was listening, but Ace and Sabo assumed that he had heard them from the little nod that came from him a couple of seconds later. They both turned their attention back to the race and ran out into the water until it reached stomach level.

"You ready?" Ace looked at Sabo and Sabo at him.

"Yep!" He replied.

"3, 2, 1….. GO!" And with that, the two boys started swimming with all their might, leaving Luffy behind on the beach all alone.

Speaking of Luffy, MAN was it boring to sit and watch the two of them slowly swim towards a rock that was like…. super far out in the distance!

He took a tight grip on the still a little too big straw hat on his head.

He was gonna be pirate king, he knew it! That was what he had promised Shanks, whom he had met just a little over 2 months ago.

Oh well.

He let go of the hat and slowly boredom started taking over.

He looked around. Ace and Sabo were still going at it like there was no tomorrow out in the distance but were nowhere near the rock just yet. Sigh, if only there was something he could do!

Luffy liked living on Mt. Colubo, it was peaceful. Well, except for the couple beasts roaming around the forest, and of course, Foosha Village's local sea monster, Lord of the coast, who had both taken away Shanks' arm and gotten scared away by his death stare.

But other than that, it was always so quiet, peaceful, aaaaand _boring_. He looked around, though he didn't expect to see anything out of the ordinary. Nothing but water he couldn't touch, boring trees, hills, seagulls, boring sand, gray terminal, pirate ships and-... wait….

Pirate ships!?

Luffy leaped up from his seat. Now _that_ was an adventure just waiting to get started! He completely ignored Ace's words from earlier and went closer to go investigate. He climbed up the little hill separating the two coasts and looked over at the ships with curiosity.

Pirates, real pirates… now, this was something Luffy didn't get to see any day! It was only two ships. One was a pirate ship and another which wasn't. A group of around 5 people was gathered. (If you're wondering why it's _around_ 5, then it's because that's what Luffy estimates. The poor little guy isn't very good at counting yet. .)

The guy, who he could tell was not a pirate, was about to hand something over to the guy who clearly was. Though he couldn't tell what it was.

Curious, he leaned a little closer over the edge. He still couldn't see anything. Okay, a little closer. It was a piece of paper. But what was on it? A little closer, a little closer, a little closer. Blueprints? That's what it looked like. But what was it of? A little closer, a little closer, a little-

Before Luffy knew it, he lost his balance and started rolling down the fairly steep hill and towards the group of people.

"Whooah, whoa, wauuw, ouch, wha-," countless groans and noises escaped his mouth as he kept on rolling and rolling and rolling and rolling and rolling and rolling.

Man, was he ever gonna stop!?

That question got answered very quickly, as the boy bumped into something. He couldn't make out what it was since everything was spinning and spinning.

His vision slowly returned, and he realized what he had bumped into. The pirates.

Oh no, this was bad.

"Hey boss, it's a brat!" The man whose legs he was lying against exclaimed. All of the men were looking down on him so Luffy could easily make out all their faces. These guys were definitely all pirates. _Bad pirates. _

"Crap, did he see the blueprints?!" A masculine voice yelled back. Luffy heard footsteps, and another guy's face came into his view. He bent down and grabbed him before Luffy could realize it.

He picked him up by the collar and made him hang several feet above the ground. Luffy started struggling to get out of his grip, but he couldn't. This guy was strong.

"If he did, then we all know we can't allow him to-" The bad guy suddenly stopped mid-sentence. He continued to stare at Luffy in silence, who was still trying to loosen the guy's grip by wiggling around.

Though all of a sudden, he did the most unthinkable, bad, horrible, evil, wrong thing that could possibly happen. He reached out for his hat. Luffy's instincts kicked in. This guy wanted Shanks' hat. No! He wouldn't allow it!

Luffy did the only thing that came to mind and bit straight and VERY vigorously into the pirate's hand before he could lay a finger on his hat.

"WRAAAAAGH!" A groan of pain was heard. His reflexes kicked in and he let go of Luffy as expected. As soon as he did, Luffy put his hands on his hat and started sprinting up the hill again since that was the only way out that didn't include going through water.

The pirate still clutching his very red hand in pain yelled out: "URGH, CATCH HIM! CATCH THE BRAT! DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!"

Luffy looked back to see that all the men were running towards him. This wasn't good. They were in an open area, which meant there weren't any trees, which meant he couldn't maneuver his way out of there, which meant they would all catch up to him since they were adults who had longer legs.

True enough, before he knew it, they were all right behind him. Luffy was almost over the hill though! If he could just make it a little further, just a little further, just a little-

Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind and put in a stranglehold by the neck, making it hard to breathe.

"I got him! I got the brat!" The rest of the pirates caught up to him and were now surrounding Luffy, who was too busy trying to breathe to escape. They walked back down the hill again. Luffy looked at the top. He could only hope Sabo and Ace would come to save him…

They walked down to the boss whose hand was still very red and had very visible bite marks. He looked pleased at the little guy who had a hard time getting enough oxygen.

"Trying to get away, eh? YOU DAMN BRAT!" He looked like he wanted to murder him. Though the rage in his eyes calmed down and an evil smile was formed on his lips.

"Take him! He knows about the Pluton, and he has something to do with Red Hair! We can't let him get away!" He commanded.

Pluton? What the heck was that? Food? But then why would they be mad? Did they think he was gonna steal their food?

"Yessir!" They all answered before heading back onto the pirate ship. Luffy had no choice but to follow along. Damn. This was bad. Really, REALLY bad.

**Ace and Sabo POV: **

They were both EXHAUSTED. The stone was getting closer, and the shore getting further and further away the more they pressed onward.

They were almost there.

The two boys looked at each other before simultaneously placing their hands on the wet rock.

Out of breath, they both looked at each other.

"Man, good race…. Sabo."

"Yeah... you almost… had me there."

"What? I totally won!"

"Did not!"

"DID!"

"DID NOT!"

They two boys looked madly at each other.

"Fine! Let's have Luffy decide it when we get back. He'll tell you that I won fair and square!" Sabo exclaimed.

"As if! Alright, let's go ask him!" And with that, they both prepared to swim back the roughly 800 meters that were between the rock and the shore.

They were both determined that Luffy would say that one of them had won. Though when they arrived, something was off.

"What the-? Where in the world IS Luffy?" Sabo exclaimed.

Ace groaned loudly.

"THAT IDIOT! He moved even though we told him to stay put!" He yelled.

"When I get my hands on him I'm gonna-!"

"Now, now, Ace. Let's find him first, okay? We can't scold him before we find out where he went," Sabo said.

Ace sighed before replying.

"You're right… Alright, let's find him."

The two boys put back on their clothes before beginning their search.

Though… the boys searched the entire beach but found nothing. The big wall was separating them, the city AND the forest in which they were usually running around. Unless he had ran to the Gray Terminal on the other side of the island then there was only one place left to check.

The other side of the hill. They usually didn't venture over there since there wasn't really anything, but it was the only place Luffy could've gone.

They hurried up the hill and peeked over the edge. And true enough… he was there.

Though… he was being held in a stranglehold. By someone who was undeniably a pirate about to board a pirate ship docked by the beach.

Both Ace and Sabo's brotherly instincts kicked in at once, and they both shot up over the top and down the hill.

Luffy was being kidnapped by pirates. _Again._

"LUFFY!" They both yelled out, but it was too late. By the time they reached the beach the ship was already sailing. They were both good swimmers, but no way in hell could they keep up with a pirate ship going full speed.

"Sabo! Let's go! We'll steal a boat and head after him," Ace said seriously at Sabo, who just nodded. The two boys hurried. They ran at full speed. All that mattered was getting a boat, all that mattered was saving Luffy! If they didn't hurry…. then who knew what was going to happen?

**Luffy POV: **

Those stupid jerk pirates had tied him up. They had tied him up so tightly that he could barely move around. He was sitting on the floor under the deck while the entire pirate crew was gathered around him.

Luffy wasn't good at counting, but he could definitely tell that there were more than 5 pirates here.

"Hey! You stupid jerks! You better let me go right now! When I get out of here, I'm gonna kick your butt, just you wait! My punch is as strong as a pistol! Let me go! Let me go! I dare you-!"

"Godammit that brat is annoying..." The captain said as is eyebrows seemed to twitch a little.

"Somebody! Somebody shut him up, PLEASE!" A subordinate yelled.

"No, wait... We still have some information we need him to spit out," The captain replied.

"But cap'n! What in the world could this brat possibly know?"

"That hat of his… it's a very special hat, am I not mistaken?" He asked bending down over angry little Luffy.

Luffy didn't think and just replied as usual.

"That's right! This is Shanks' hat! He gave it to me and told me to become a great pirate! And 'Imma give it back to him when I gather my own crew that is even stronger than his!"

...

Absolute silence hit the ship.

...

"Hold on! Shanks, EMPEROR SHANKS gave his hat to THIS BRAT!?" One of the pirates yelled.

"As I thought. That hat, as far as I know, was very special to emperor Shanks, so I was surprised, to say the least when I saw that you had it. But if he gave it to you, then it all makes sense.." He grinned evilly and leaned in closer.

"Wait.. what are you? NO! NO, DON'T COME CLOSER, DON'T YOU DARE, NO-!" Luffy could nothing do. The captain leaned in over him and ripped the hat right off his head.

Shanks' hat, no _his_ hat! He had taken it!

"GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK RIGHT NOW!" Luffy yelled out desperately, though he didn't seem to listen. AT ALL.

"YOU! SHANKS WILL COME! HE WILL KICK YOUR BUTT! WHEN HE COMES HE WILL-!"

"Okay! NOW you can shut him up!" He commanded and Luffy started yelling even louder.

Shortly after, somebody went over to Luffy, who could do nothing but wriggle his body and head around a little, and put a piece of cloth in his mouth and tied it at the back of his head.

"MPHM! MIME, GOPHMA, KWMIK, MWYOUR, BWUTT!" Luffy uttered, but he couldn't speak loud og clearly enough for anyone to understand him.

_ (I'm Gonna Kick Your Butt! )_

"Ah, yes. Now that's much better." He said as Luffy was left on the ground. The captain turned to his crew.

"Men! Let us feast! Tonight, we are getting the last information needed from emperor Shanks to build the Pluton!" He yelled out.

Excitement instantly started spreading, and the pirates quicker than anyone could realize started drinking beer and sake, eating tons upon TONS of food, singing and partying around.

Luffy was forced to sit and wait in the corner without anything to eat or drink. He had to SIT and WAIT while MEAT was being eaten. WHAT KIND OF TORTURE WAS THIS!?

A little while passed by, and the pirates slowly started getting drunk, but the partying continued. It became late, and eventually, little 7-year-old Luffy fell asleep on the floor.

**Red hair pirates POV: **

Today had been another successful day. And just like any other successful day, the red hair pirates had decided to buckle down at a small pub on a small island and party all night long!

Shanks was the both the craziest party animal and the heaviest drinker on the entire crew. The guy could keep going all night without passing out or getting drunk, it was actually kind of impressive.

Having just bought the entire beer and sake stocking in the entire pub, the partying had already started and was only getting more and more intense every minute.

Now, it had only been two months since Shanks had given up his precious straw hat to Luffy, the kid who had reminded him of his long-gone captain, Gol D. Roger by saying the exact same words he had said so many years ago.

That kid was special, Shanks just knew it. What had happened on that day had been far out of the ordinary considering it was just supposed to be another day of drinking and partying after a long journey. Luffy had certainly triggered certain events resulting in both Shanks losing his arm and giving up his hat.

Though when Shanks thought back, he regretted nothing. An arm was an arm, it's not like he needed it to survive.

The hat had been a tough choice though, but again, he didn't regret leaving that hat on Luffy's head. He was gonna hit it big one day, Shanks just had this subconscious feeling that that was what was going to happen.

The crew was having the time of their lives as usual, when a feeling of deja vu suddenly hit everyone in the room as the bar doors shot open and two measly looking bandits or pirates came inside with large smirks plastered on their lips.

Though this time, it was clear that they were there for something other than booze. They were here for him.

"Emperor Shanks… it seems we have finally found you," one of the pirates exclaimed. This was odd. For someone so weak these guys sure had a lot of confidence.

"Oh? You've come here for me? And why have I gotten this great honor?" He asked calmness written all over his face.

"You have something we want, so we propose an exchange," the other one said.

"Something you want? And what might that be?" Shanks asked, starting to get serious. People didn't just track down a Yonko if all they wanted was an autograph or to say hello.

"Information. Specifically, information on where to find the parts required to build the legendary weapon, Pluton," One said.

Shanks went from almost serious mode to completely serious the moment they uttered the name. _Pluton. _

A dark shadow fell over his eyes. There was complete silence in the room, the crew awaiting their captain's response.

"And what makes you think that I trade information as important as where to find the crucial parts of the deadly weapon to a group like you?" He asked, his voice getting deeper and more serious.

The two pirates grinned.

"_**This."**_

Shanks, along with the rest of the red hair pirates reacted as soon as the pirate pulled it out. No. They _didn't. _

His hat. The hat which he had given to Luffy. But why the hell did they have it? It was supposed to sit nice and secure on Luffy's head.

"We found this just lying around on some insignificant little brat's head. I suppose we won't have to explain? He must be important to you, considering you gave your treasure away to a little brat like him."

"You know, all we have to do is ask the captain, and that brat will be-"

"**What have you done to Luffy!?" **Shanks interrupted, his tone of voice switching from serious to murderous.

His eyes and body were twitching to just jump at these guys.

"If you've as much as touched him, I swear. We _WILL _hunt you and your measly crew down and kill every single member of your little group."

The rest of the red hair pirates sat intimidatingly and death glared at the pirates just like their captain, ready to jump into action at any time. Luffy was their comrade as well, after all.

The two guys, clearly more scared now, managed to reply.

"W-well we haven't harmed him. Not yet at least. Meet up with us at the island directly south-east from here. If you resist or refuse to give us the information, we'll kill the damn brat, understood?!" The two pirates couldn't handle being in the tension-filled room any longer and sprinted out the room and down towards the coast.

Absolute silence.

The dark shadow over Shanks' eyes remained. He gritted his teeth and slammed his fist into the table making it break in two out of frustration.

'DAMMIT!' He thought as he bit his lip. He was ready to kill right now.

"Captain?" Shanks looked over to see none other than his first mate, Benn Beckman with a look of fury rivaling only his own.

"Your orders?" He asked as the rest of the crew stood up and glared at him with similar looks of fury.

Shanks remained silent and glared into the ground.

He rose his head and looked at his crew. He knew what he needed to do.

**Sabo and Ace POV: **

The boat they had stolen was barely big enough for them both, but that didn't matter!

They could still see the ship but just barely. They were both rowing the boat with all their might, praying that the ship wouldn't disappear behind them.

"Come on Sabo, we need to go faster!" Ace yelled out, panic clearly plastered over his face.

"I know, I'm going the fastest I can!" He replied. The two boys were starting to get out of breath and the waves were getting higher and higher the further away they went. They had already gone out so far that the shore no longer was visible.

They constantly kept a close eye on the ship behind them but it was getting harder and harder to keep rowing, and it was getting darker and darker as the sun began to set.

Though suddenly, they noticed something.

"Hey Ace, I think they cast out their anchor! The ship isn't moving anymore!" Sabo commented.

"I think you're right! C'mon, let's get going, but quietly so they don't hear us," he said to Sabo who nodded.

The two boys proceeded to row closer and closer to the ship and eventually made it all the way. They left the boat right at the back at the ship, so nobody would notice it or them sneaking on board.

They tied the rowboat to the ship carefully so their only chance of escape wouldn't drift away while they rescued Luffy.

"Let's go," Sabo said to Ace who just nodded as they climbed up the side of the boat and onto the deck.

Ace immediately signed to Sabo to go hide behind a stack of rope. The loud noises and bright light coming from below deck suggested that they were currently partying.

"Where do you think Luffy is?" Sabo asked.

"They either have him locked up somewhere or have him in the same exact room that they're partying in," Ace replied.

"Shhhh! Somebody's coming!" Sabo said. And true enough. A whole heap of pirates came up from the lower deck and went into the cabin. Three of them started walking around on deck, presumably to keep watch.

Two people got down into a boat and started sailing another direction, though as to why the two boys had no clue.

"Let's go peek through the windows of the party room," Sabo proposed. Ace nodded and the two boys snuck their way past the three pirates keeping watch and onto the outside of the lower deck.

They peeked inside the windows emitting a sharp light and were utterly shocked at what they saw.

All of the pirates, there had to be at least 70 still partying and about 30 passed out drunk, were partying around in the surprisingly big space.

And right there in the corner… was Luffy! He was tied up and had a piece of cloth in his mouth preventing him from speaking… and weirdest of all, he was missing his signature hat...

That hat was like a treasure to him, neither Sabo or Ace were allowed to TOUCH it. The pirates must've taken it from him, that was the only possible explanation. But why would they want Luffy's hat? But that wasn't the weirdest thing… Luffy was laying on his stomach, trying to bite into a piece of meat being held by a pirate passed out drunk right in front of him.

A shame he couldn't quite reach it. You could see the desperation in his eyes to get his hands on that piece of meat!

"That idiot!" Ace yelled very quietly. Sabo sighed.

"Well, what did you expect? He's Luffy after all…" He said quietly.

"Whatever, come on, let's go get him," Ace said. Sabo nodded.

The two boys hastily snuck around to the back entrance. They would have to be extremely sneaky and careful about this. Especially considering that Luffy would give them away the moment he spotted them.

"You ready?"

"Yeah."

Ace oh so carefully opened the door, which hinges luckily weren't rusty and therefore opened without any sound.

With quiet quiet steps, they went inside and closed the door just as carefully as they had opened it. Though when they were about to go hide, something terrible happened. Sabo had to sneeze.

Panicking, Ace signaled everything from "DON'T DO IT" "DON'T YOU DARE" "THEY'LL SEE US" "NOT HERE" but there was nothing Sabo could do. The poor boy's allergy was acting up and he sneezed loud and clear.

They noticed them. Oh boy did they notice them.

"SMWBO! AWCE! YHWU CHMAME!" Luffy said as the room fell into complete silence.

_( Sabo! Ace! You Came! )_

"Great Luffy, now we're completely busted! AND THANKS SABO!" Ace yelled at them both.

"Don't blame me, I can't control when I sneeze!" He yelled.

"GET THEM!" A pirate yelled out as everyone went to grab their swords, forcing Sabo and Ace to switch to battle mode instead of arguing.

"Guess we have no choice but to fight now!" Ace said, taking a tight grip on the water pipe which they had both brought with them.

"Yeah," Sabo replied.

"HYIAGH!" Ace jumped into the air and knocked the first guy out cold. Fighting them all was no problem. It's not that they were all that strong, but if they didn't hurry, the rest of the pirates would show up. And there was a LOT of them as well.

But the booze they were all drinking must have had some effect on their fighting capabilities because all these guys were knocked out with a single hit, if they didn't collapse onto the floor themselves.

A swift 7 minutes passed by, and every single pirate was now lying on the ground, unconscious. The two boys rushed over to Luffy even though they were both scratched up and out of breath.

Sabo instantly got to untying the knot tied on Luffy's back after having removed the cloth from his mouth.

"I'm so happy you came! Those jerks stole my hat!" Luffy yelled out.

"Yeah yeah, we need to get out of here!" Ace yelled out. Suddenly, they heard footsteps.

"Crap, Sabo! We need to go hide!" Ace yelled out. Sabo was having problems with untying the knot and was therefore forced to leave Luffy tied up as he ran off with Ace.

The two of them quickly jumped into two empty beer barrels. The second they did, the door shot up and the voice of the captain was heard.

"What in the-!?" He looked utterly shocked at the sight. All of his crewmates had been knocked out cold and were lying on the ground, unconscious and beaten up. He looked over at Luffy, who was the only one still conscious.

But how!? Did he do this? How could he though, he was very clearly still tied up!

He went over to Luffy and grabbed him by the collar just like last time, looking extremely mad.

"You brat! Do you know who you're messing with!? We are pirates, and pirates are not afraid to kill! I'm a wanted man, I have a bounty of over 100 million berri! Captain Cutthroat, a man feared in the Grand Line, one who ate the force-force fruit! Do you wanna know what it does!?" He asked, getting a tighter grip, once again making it hard for the little guy to breathe.

"IT DOES THIS! PUNCH, TIMES 10!" He yelled as he punched Luffy as were he something made to be punched. He flew to the other side of the room and had a very very visible mark left afterward.

Luffy was very clearly whining in pain, which was unusual.

"With my power, I can punch or kick all the way to 100x my normal strength! As you can see, it does hurt quite a bit!" He yelled out.

Ace and Sabo watched in horror as Luffy groaned in pain on the floor. They could nothing do, this man was clearly far above anything they had ever faced before.

He suddenly went over and picked up Luffy again.

"Now tell me, how did you knock out my crew!?" Sabo and Ace instantly froze. This was game over, Luffy was going to give them away.

"I…. I" Luffy uttered, the captain getting more and more impatient.

"I did it!" He yelled, surprising not only Ace and Sabo but also the captain.

"YOU did this?" Cutthroat yelled a little hesitant.

"Yeah! I ate a devil fruit too! So I used my powers to knock out these guys!" Luffy yelled.

Cutthroat looked furious. Absolutely furious.

"Well then… you're a devil fruit user as well? I have a little something I would like to do then," He said, taking Luffy with him out of the room.

"Wait! Where are we going? Hold on! LET ME GO, YOU BASTARD!" Luffy yelled wiggling around, but to no use. He was taken to the upper deck.

Sabo and Ace stared scared at each other.

"Let's go, Ace. Who knows what he's going to do!" Sabo yelled. Ace could only agree and go with him.

With their newly found disguises, (the barrels), the two boys made their way to the upper deck.

It had gotten completely dark now, and the dark rain clouds in the sky were completely blocking all the stars and the moon which would've been visible otherwise.

The waves were getting higher and higher… no doubt. A storm was on its way.

"Where did he take him?" Ace asked. Though that question was immediately answered as he heard the most horrifying terrified scream he had ever heard in his life.

"WHUAAAAAAAAAAAA!" No doubt. It was Luffy. The two boys hurried. Luffy was in huge danger right now, they could sense it!

Sweat dripping down their foreheads, they prepared themselves for the worst. When they arrived, their instincts immediately kicked in.

Luffy was _hanging _over _seawater _in ONE single thin piece of rope. The waves were getting so high that he was almost getting splashed with water.

Screams were heard from his mouth every time they did.

"No please!AAAAU- Let me down, let me-AUUGH! down! I'll drown if- AAAAA I'll fall into the water!" Luffy asked a clear tone of desperation in his voice.

"RAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AS IF, YOU DAMN BRAT, RAHAHAHA! You can get eaten by a sea king for all I care, RAHAHAHA!"

"Sabo! What do we do!? If Luffy falls into the water, it's game over!" Ace yelled quietly though panicked.

The rain started pouring and distant sounds of thunder in the distance could be heard. Luffy wasn't the best whenever it rained heavily, but he usually managed.

"CAP'N!" CAP'N! THERE'S A SMALLER BOAT TIED TO THE BACK OF OUR SHIP!" A guy who came running yelled.

"WHAT!?" Cutthroat yelled as he instantly stopped laughing.

"Cap'n! The unconscious crew members have started waking up! They say two more brats snuck on board and knocked them out!" Yet another crewmate yelled.

Cutthroat grit his teeth.

"Untie the boat and find them immediately! Don't let them escape!" He commanded.

"YESSIR!" And with that, everything suddenly started going very, very wrong. The waves got higher and higher, and Luffy was officially being splashed with water now. Every 30 seconds or so, a big wave would come in, and Luffy would get drenched, making him lose most of his strength.

Luffy didn't have the strength to wriggle around and try to escape anymore. He could barely even breathe!

"Ace-!.. humph, humph, Sabo-! humph! HELP ME!" The little boy yelled out, constantly getting splashed with more and more water, beginning to look more and more lifeless. He looked like he was about to cry.

The water was obviously also very, very cold. If not by drowning, Luffy could easily die from hypothermia.

"Sabo! What do we do!?" Ace looked like he was about to panic himself.

"I have no clue!" Sabo replied.

Suddenly, Cutthroat spoke up. He looked...Absolutely. Pissed.

"BRAAAAAAATS!" He yelled out making the entire ship shake. His eyes were filled with fury and he was clutching his teeth together so loudly that it could be heard.

He took out his sword and went over to Luffy.

"Reveal yourself! Or this brat gets turned to sea king food! You have 10 seconds!"

"What!?" Ace and Sabo yelled simultaneously.

"What!?" Luffy yelled as he suddenly found new strength to try and wriggle around, but to no use.

"10…."

"9…."

"SABO! WHAT DO WE DO!?"

"ACE, I HAVE NO IDEA!"

"8…"

"If we don't reveal ourselves Luffy is going to drown!"

"But if we do, then we'll get caught!"

"7…"

"6.."

Luffy started crying.

"No! Please no, I don't wanna drown! Ace, Sabo, HELP ME!" He yelled out.

"5…"

"4…"

"SABO!"

"ACE!"

"3…"

"DO WE REVEAL OURSELVES?"

"2…"

"OR DO WE LET LUFFY DROWN?"

"**1…" **

"TIME'S UP, BRATS!" He said as he was very clearly about to cut over the rope holding up Luffy.

Luffy closed his eyes and expected to start falling, hit the water and then just keep sinking and sinking and sinking until all the air would disappear from his lunges. It would burn, very badly and he would choke. Just the thought made him even more scared.

But… It never happened. He never started falling. He never hit the water, he never drowned. Carefully, he looked up. And what he saw, surprised him, to say the least.

Ace and Sabo were both standing there… with both hands in the air.

"Alright! We surrender! Pull up Luffy!" Ace yelled out clearly annoyed. Cutthroat's smile turned into one of great pleasure and satisfaction.

"RAAHAHAHAHAHAHA" He took a tight grip of the rope holding up Luffy, pulled it up, and cut it, keeping a tight grip on the exhausted, out of breath, freezing little boy.

"Tie them up!" He commanded. Sabo and Ace let themselves get tied up since the captain was holding a still very fragile Luffy in his arms, where he could easily kill him if he wanted to.

Not 3 minutes passed by, and all three boys were tied up under the deck. Luffy was still very cold and coughing up seawater that he had swallowed.

Ace and Sabo could do nothing but sit and watch as Luffy continued to cough, shiver and groan.

"You're gonna pay for what you've done to Luffy!" Ace yelled out in anger.

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try, brat, RAHAHAHAHA!"

"I'm sorry, Ace. This is all my fault," Luffy said weakly.

"Oi, oi. Take it easy Luffy, You're still very cold and under the effects of the seawater," Sabo replied worriedly.

"RAHAHAHAHA! Seeing how pathetic the three of you are warms my heart," he replied.

"Why you-! When we get out of here, you're going down!" Ace yelled out.

The captain completely ignored the young Ace's words and turned around.

"Cap'n! They're back!" A pirate yelled.

"RAHAHAHAHAHA! Perfect!" Cutthroat yelled. A second later, two soaked and slightly scared looking pirates came under the deck.

"Now, report," The captain commanded.

"Yessir! We found him at the exact location we had pinpointed. Our trade definitely interested him, to say the least," one pirate replied.

"Yes, he was absolutely fuming. Are you sure making one of the emperors mad was a good idea?" The other one asked, a clear tone of fear in his voice.

"Yes, certain. We WILL by all means necessary get everything needed to create the Pluton. Did you forget what great lengths we went to just for those blueprints!? Emperor Shanks knows where to find the materials, and now, we have something he wants. There will not come an opportunity like this again in our lifetime, we have to take the chances, RAHAHAHAHAHA!" The captain answered.

"So is that why you kidnapped Luffy!?" Ace yelled out in anger. He had the worst temper out of the three of them. Getting him mad, meant getting him MAD.

"Yes, to blackmail the emperor, Red hair Shanks. Any problems with that?"

"You huge freaking idiot!" Ace yelled out. The captain stared madly at him, and so did the rest of the crew.

"Do you have ANY idea how much that guy cares for Luffy?! He gave up his left arm to save him, no way in hell will he ever go along with your plans, hahaha!" Ace laughed.

The pirates slowly got madder and madder as Ace kept on laughing.

"Oi, oi, Ace. Calm down. If you keep laughing, these guys are gonna get mad!" Sabo said to him.

"Oh yeah, what're they gonna do? They can't afford to kill us if they want the trade, idiot! Man, Sabo why did we even-"

"YOU SHUT UP THIS INSTANT, BRAT!" The captain yelled. He forced his way through the crowd of pirates and stood right in front of Ace, a look of murder plastered in his eyes.

Ace was starting to regret having said the things he said and gulped.

"You cocky little brat." He grabbed him by the collar just as he had done with Luffy not too long ago.

"Ace!" Sabo and Luffy exclaimed.

"You sure have a big mouth, kid. Though there's one thing that bugs me. Why in the world would you think that we can't kill _YOU_? The only brat we need is the one who had the hat, not you or this other kid," he said.

Ace's eyes widened. Dammit, he was right.

Sabo was panicking. For the last couple of minutes, he had worked on untying the knot on his back in secret, and he almost had it! Dammit, if Ace hadn't spoken he could've helped them both and they could've escaped!

"Now…" The captain looked madly at Ace, who looked slightly terrified himself.

"TAKE BACK WHAT YOU SAID, BRAT! PUNCH TIMES 30!" He yelled out, punching Ace straight in the stomach, causing him to cough up the metalic, red substance that was blood.

"ACE!" Both of the other brothers yelled out.

He crashed into the back wall and flew right into the other room. He could barely stand up, yet he did so even though he was clearly scared, and blood was still dripping out of his mouth.

Sabo had officially freed himself and instantly turned his attention to Luffy.

"Sab-!" Sabo placed a hand over his mouth.

"Shhh! If you don't want to get noticed, stay quiet!" He whispered as he took his hand off of Luffy's mouth and began untying as fast as he could.

Ace was NOT looking good. He clutched onto his clearly sore stomach, sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Still not had enough? You cocky little rat," Cutthroat said. Ace focused on his breathing as the pain in his abdomen increased. He clutched his teeth. He couldn't do anything, he was still tied up!

Sabo's fingers were sweaty, so untying suddenly became very, very hard. Though he managed, and he FINALLY untied Luffy's knot! But too late…

The captain held Ace by the neck, lifting him into the air.

"Now, I'll make sure to finish you off this time!" The captain yelled.

"ACEE!" Luffy and Sabo yelled as they ran towards him. But they didn't make it in time.

"Punch times… 80!" He yelled before impaling his hand in Ace's chest. Ace let out a scream of agony and pain as he was instantly sent flying into the back of the ship. He crashed through the wall… out into the storm. And into the ocean.

The hole that had been created to the outside showed that it was no longer storming and that the sun had almost gone up.

But...

Even though Ace was a good swimmer, there was an _extremely _low chance of him surviving as long as his arms and feet were tied together... in fact, the chance of him surviving was zero...

"ACEE!" Sabo yelled out, running to the space he had just fallen.

Tears of panic started forming.

"Luffy! His hands were tied, he can't swim! He'll… He'll drown!" Sabo yelled out at Luffy who looked horrified.

"I have to save him-!" Sabo yelled out as he was about to jump into the water.

"Not so fast, BRAT! Punch times 30!" He yelled out sending Sabo flying the other direction.

Luffy had gotten his power back by now so he was able to stand up and fight just fine.

"SABO!" He yelled out.

"RAHAHAHA! These pests are a joke!" The captain exclaimed.

"Why you-! GUM GUM….. PISTOL!" Luffy shouted out as his arm stretched out, clearly surprising Cutthroat enough to make it land.

Luffy smiled in success but realized very quickly that it was way too early to be celebrating. True enough, the punch had hit him, but Luffy didn't have enough power in his punch to make an impact. Either that or this guy just withstood his strongest attack like it was nothing.

"Is that all you've got?" He smiled evilly sending chills down Luffy's spine. Before Luffy could retreat the stretched out arm, the captain grabbed it in such a tight grip that Luffy couldn't retract it.

He made Luffy retract into his arms, and placed his foot on top of the rubber boy's back. He pressed his foot harder and harder into his back, making it hurt a little to breathe.

He impaled his foot with more impact . And more impact. Okay, this was starting to hurt. The captain smiled very devilishly. Luffy got a really, REALLY bad feeling.

"Power times 90! CRUNCH!" He shouted, pressing his foot hardy into the poor boys back. The sound of ribs cracking was heard, and Luffy couldn't breathe as the man stepped on his lunges. His vision became black, and excruciating pain took over him as blood oozed out his mouth.

An deafening scream could be heard from Luffy's lips. As the captain stepped off of Luffy's back, which had a very clear mark of the impact just made impaled into his back. He clutched onto his back out of reflex, but touching it anywhere just made the pain worse and worse and worse.

Luffy was left defenseless and unable to get up as the captain once again came rushing at him at tremendous speed.

"Punch times 10!" He yelled out sending Luffy flying into something. Luffy had no clue what he had crashed into, but whatever it was was stone hard and made him feel like he was at the bottom of the ocean.

He couldn't move, he was barely even conscious. Damn it.

He had…_ Ace_. Why? WHY!? Luffy was too exhausted to cry, but the sadness was there. Sabo was unconscious, Ace was… He himself was too injured to move.

All he could hear was the annoying laugh of Cutthroat.

"RAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The sound echoed within Luffy's mind for what felt like ages.

Though suddenly… suddenly. _It stopped. _

Luffy had just enough energy left to raise his head. Never in his life had he felt this relieved.. ok, maybe he had felt this same exact way 2 months ago.

With some of the last of his strength, he managed to utter out the word.

"Shanks."

**Shanks POV: **

Never in his life had Shanks been this furious. When he arrived at the ship, the site had made all possible triggers within his head go off. Anger took over and his entire body was aching to teach these bastards a lesson.

There he was, on the ground.

He was shivering, groaning, cold and exhausted. His body covered in injuries and wounds the pirate had not thought possible on Luffy.

These guys had **hurt **Luffy.

The guy standing in front of him was laughing like this was some kind of sick game. Shanks grew tired of the laugh after listening to it for two seconds.

He was too angry to be calm, and so were the rest of his crew.

"Someone. Go get the other kid he knocked out," he said, his tone of voice quiet, yet firm. His command was instantly heard, and someone who went to retrieve the poor blonde boy who had also fallen victim to this guy.

The sound of an unknown man's voice made the laughing idiot turn around.

The moment he caught Shanks' eyes, he knew _exactly _what was going to happen.

The little, almost lifeless boy on the ground lifted his head up slightly.

"Shanks…" His tone of voice held nothing but relief and exhaustion.

Shanks felt ready to murder. His voice was so fragile and weak, nothing like the energetic full of life tone that the midget would usually talk in.

And then, Shanks did it.

The intensity of his glare increased, and suddenly, all of the enemy pirates felt the pressure coming from the conqueror's haki. All except for the captain were knocked out at once.

Now, solely the captain was left, pure terror plastered all over his face as he realized he was clearly outmatched. Sweat was dripping down his forehead and he started sweating vigorously.

Before the captain could even realize what was happening, Shanks had leaped at him, using his sword to cut the bastard straight in the stomach, sending him to the ground as he passed out instantly.

Shanks put the sword back at its rightful place and went over to Luffy who was just barely conscious.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, Luffy," He exclaimed.

"Shanks! You came… I'm… I'm sorry, Shanks! I lost your hat, I didn't mean to!" He said weakly. Shanks reached behind his back and took out the straw hat and put it back at its rightful place.

On top of Luffy's head.

The relief as the hat got placed on his head again could clearly be seen on Luffy's face. Though, his face soon turned from relieved to absolutely devastated.

"Ace… they got Ace. Shanks, I couldn't protect Ace…" He uttered as if he was about to cry. Shanks picked up Luffy with his only remaining arm, making sure not to let go or hurt him in any way.

He smiled as Luffy began to cry.

"Don't worry, Luffy. Ace is safe, I promise," he exclaimed.

"But… but...he," was all Luffy could say before Shanks' grin grew wider.

"Take it easy, anchor. He's safe, I promise you," Shanks said as Luffy's tears finally dried up and the little guy smiled, before slipping into unconsciousness. Shanks held onto Luffy and looked at his crew.

"Did you find it?" He asked.

"Yes captain, right here," Benn exclaimed showing him a blueprint which had been the one thing starting this entire mess, to begin with.

"Burn it," he commanded.

"Yes, captain," he replied.

Shanks took Luffy and Sabo to their ship before handing them over to their doctor. Man, Luffy just couldn't stay out of trouble, could he?

* * *

**Thank u again so much for everything, I've felt great writing on this story. You guys are the sweetest and most supportive people, I am thankful and hope you respect my decision.**


	10. The final decicion

Heyo! So, I wanna cut just straight to the point, since I know you've all been waiting.

This story will no longer be updated, at least not from this account. I am abandoning it, BUT, if anyone wants to take it over, I will happily let them do so. I know this story means a lot to people, but I've slipped so far away from it. I've changed, my writing has changed, my personal interests changed, my life has changed. Still, I'm happy for the recognition and love that it received!

And also, if anyone wants to check out my sister's awesome work, go check her out at JustCallMeCookie! :D

I've really enjoyed all of your kind words, and abandoning this does kind of make me sad, but I had to come to terms with it and realize that continuing like this was ultimately going to get me nowhere. So for now, it is sayonara, from my part!

Thank you to the people who contributed! Thank you for all the follows and the reviews, the communities that have added this story and the countless hours you've made me stay up, stressing about finishing these chapters TwT. It was always a dream of mine to have "one of those fanfictions", with a lot of words, reviews and unique plot that you stumble upon every once in a while, and if anything, I got to experience a taste of that!

About further notice in regards to the adoption of the story, I will not be managing or deciding any further plot points with whoever takes it. (If anyone, of course.) To be honest, this story was pulled up out of a rim. While discussing something with my sis, we came up with this stupid idea on the spot. It's kind of just been a game of writing stuff in the moment, and being sort of unsure where to really take the story.

Anyway, I think that's all from my part. Thank you for being with me, dear readers~! I wish you the best of luck 3


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